PaigeFTW: Learning the Hard Way in ‘Don’t Starve’
I’m not used to playing games like Don’t Starve. I’m used to pop-up boxes in menus explaining what other menus do, with tutorials that carefully walk you through all the basic mechanics before allowing you to take your first tentative baby steps into a harsh world.
Don’t Starve dumps you in the wilderness and says not a word.
My first playthrough ended very suddenly when I got eaten at monsters at night. Oops. The second go-round went better because I noticed that there was a menu that let me build tools (somehow I missed that the first time around as I was exploring), and the third and fourth time I managed to eke out a few extra days before walking into tentacle pits of instant death both times.
OK, that sounded pretty smart, but now I’ve got to be honest with you: I read a tutorial in between playthrough one and two, and that’s how I realized there was a menu and that I needed to prioritize building a flower crown to preserve sanity and collecting wood and grass for that fire, stat.
When it comes to experimenting with tactics in a strategic game like Fire Emblem, or with specific battle strategies in your typical RPG, I can dive right in. It’s a test of how diligently I have invested my resources in my soldiers, of how well I can identify an enemy’s tactics and adjust my own strategy accordingly. After a certain point, I can identify whether the battle is a lost cause, even.
I never thought much, before, about what makes you good at games — that there are some games better suited to certain people, regardless of how good their hand-eye coordination is. There is no better way to learn how you think (and where your blind spots are) than through gaming.
When it comes to a game like Don’t Starve, which requires patience by attrition — once you find that best strategy, the goal is to refine it until it works more efficiently — I have no IQ whatsoever.
In fact, I’ll admit that I’ve gotten bored with it. I don’t think I could bear to pick another 12 flowers for that crown, or keep that fire going through another dark night.
