7/28/26
Thinking about how most of the games I love are incredibly systemic.
Older ones I’ve fallen for too:
I’d like to write about this more. Usually the games I like have a rich internal simulation. They create problems and a sandbox for you to solve those problems within. They give you good reasons to use varying tools in the sandbox.
Richly engaging with physics gives you a lot of systemic richness for free.
There’s also some “free” richness you get for engaging with language too.
I don’t think “systemic” is what I actually like, exactly. I value richness. I value discovery. I like seeing two things interact in a surprising way. But I think this could easily be the emergent consequence of two systems or a surprising twist in a narrative.
I think I enjoy learning things and solving problems. Games with rich systems allow me to do this in a way that feels creative. It lets me feel like I’m solving a “real” thing and not trying to find a developer’s intended solution. A lot of these things are heavily designed for me to solve them as expected though.