Forager made me have an introspection on why I play games and my own mental health. Not because it is thought provoking or spectacular, it’s aggressively average. Which is why it spurred these thoughts.
I originally played Forager a little while back on the Nintendo Switch and walked away from it feeling like it was just another “numbers go up” type of game. Despite that, I for some reason got it again on PC. Honestly, I don’t know the reasoning for that or even if there was any.
I feel nothing while playing Forager, it just numbed me to my mind. For a little while, I’ve noticed that I’ve been playing less games, and the games that I do play are what I would describe as painkiller games. They don’t make you feel better or worse, but they do distract you from your life. Mostly, I’d watch YouTube and maybe play a painkiller game at the same time to occupy my free time. It demanded the least amount of engagement to “consume”, all but braindead. I even put many games that I had a genuine interest in and felt engaged with on the backburner, because I guess I felt it was “too much work”. Safe to say I didn’t have a healthy relationship with a lot of the media I “enjoyed”. Others take drugs and/or alcohol to numb themselves from their lives, and I found myself doing a similar thing with YouTube and painkiller games.
Forager helped me really acknowledge this behavior. I was always aware but never really thought about it head on. While playing, I just thought to myself, “What fuck am I doing playing this shit, I’m not having fun”. I grew sick of the monotonous and shallow gameplay, bland pixel art, and qUiRkY vibes. I wanted to feel something. Now I have dropped Forager and have to put the enjoy back into media ENJOYment. I have other problems in life more pressing than entertainment that I’ll be taking steps to deal with but that’s stuff I’d like to keep private.
Enough of the soapbox, now for the real question, does Forager suck big nuts and balls!?!?!?
No.
As I mentioned earlier it isn’t bad, just “aggressively average”. It’s inoffensive but does nothing to really stand out. It is satisfying, but it just fills you with unfulfilling boosts of dopamine. It feels nice to have large quantities of resources, unlock new skills/research, upgrade tools, etc. It’s addicting but not fun, and I really don’t want to play games like that anymore. I want to have fun, not just be mindlessly occupied. So, if you want to numb your brain then Forager is the game for you, if you value your sanity then you should consider holding off.
I originally played Forager a little while back on the Nintendo Switch and walked away from it feeling like it was just another “numbers go up” type of game. Despite that, I for some reason got it again on PC. Honestly, I don’t know the reasoning for that or even if there was any.
I feel nothing while playing Forager, it just numbed me to my mind. For a little while, I’ve noticed that I’ve been playing less games, and the games that I do play are what I would describe as painkiller games. They don’t make you feel better or worse, but they do distract you from your life. Mostly, I’d watch YouTube and maybe play a painkiller game at the same time to occupy my free time. It demanded the least amount of engagement to “consume”, all but braindead. I even put many games that I had a genuine interest in and felt engaged with on the backburner, because I guess I felt it was “too much work”. Safe to say I didn’t have a healthy relationship with a lot of the media I “enjoyed”. Others take drugs and/or alcohol to numb themselves from their lives, and I found myself doing a similar thing with YouTube and painkiller games.
Forager helped me really acknowledge this behavior. I was always aware but never really thought about it head on. While playing, I just thought to myself, “What fuck am I doing playing this shit, I’m not having fun”. I grew sick of the monotonous and shallow gameplay, bland pixel art, and qUiRkY vibes. I wanted to feel something. Now I have dropped Forager and have to put the enjoy back into media ENJOYment. I have other problems in life more pressing than entertainment that I’ll be taking steps to deal with but that’s stuff I’d like to keep private.
Enough of the soapbox, now for the real question, does Forager suck big nuts and balls!?!?!?
No.
As I mentioned earlier it isn’t bad, just “aggressively average”. It’s inoffensive but does nothing to really stand out. It is satisfying, but it just fills you with unfulfilling boosts of dopamine. It feels nice to have large quantities of resources, unlock new skills/research, upgrade tools, etc. It’s addicting but not fun, and I really don’t want to play games like that anymore. I want to have fun, not just be mindlessly occupied. So, if you want to numb your brain then Forager is the game for you, if you value your sanity then you should consider holding off.
Jellyghost
3 months ago