More recently, Deliver Us Mars was quite memorable for making the most of its shuttle launch sequence, by asking you to press all the buttons to complete the safety checks before takeoff. While other games might have sped through this stuff, I think it adds a lot to the sense that you're beginning a great journey where so many things could go wrong.
Thanks Jon - lots of good stuff here! Deliver Us Mars is on my playlist so I look forward to that. Mundaun too. Loved this section from your article (below) - hope everyone checks it out!
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It's great to see, then, that games large and small are increasingly zooming in on the cultural weight, spirituality, dedication, struggle or craft of actions, using repetitive ordinariness to tie us to the lore of their worlds rather than letting us skate over it. In Mundaun, for instance, making coffee involves methodically collecting and combing the required items not merely to increase your maximum health, but as a means of grounding you back in everyday reality between supernatural events.
I wrote a piece about the value of mundane rituals and processes in games last year, which may be of interest: https://mediafoundry.talenthouse.com/post/everyday-rituals-and-processes
More recently, Deliver Us Mars was quite memorable for making the most of its shuttle launch sequence, by asking you to press all the buttons to complete the safety checks before takeoff. While other games might have sped through this stuff, I think it adds a lot to the sense that you're beginning a great journey where so many things could go wrong.
Thanks Jon - lots of good stuff here! Deliver Us Mars is on my playlist so I look forward to that. Mundaun too. Loved this section from your article (below) - hope everyone checks it out!
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It's great to see, then, that games large and small are increasingly zooming in on the cultural weight, spirituality, dedication, struggle or craft of actions, using repetitive ordinariness to tie us to the lore of their worlds rather than letting us skate over it. In Mundaun, for instance, making coffee involves methodically collecting and combing the required items not merely to increase your maximum health, but as a means of grounding you back in everyday reality between supernatural events.