A while back I was sitting in the library taking advantage
of free wifi. Next to me a father was playing chess with his son. It soon
became obvious to me that the boy probably had never played chess. The father
had very little patience while he was teaching his son. In the struggle of this
game of chess, I hear the father say to his son, “Chess is a puzzle. You have
to think ahead unlike those video games you play.” To an extent, I do not know
if this statement is entirely true. Yes, chess is a puzzle, and you do have to
think very far ahead. I am, for one, awful at chess. Running through my mind,
is the thought, ‘What kind of video games
does this boy play?’ Depending on the video game there can be a lot of
memorization, strategy, reflexes, and (ooh boy….) thinking ahead.
My starting example begins with shooter games such as Medal
of Honor, Call of Duty, Battlefield,
Halo…. the list goes on. I personally enjoy seeing how long I can live without
blowing myself up, falling off a cliff, or having the enemy stab me in the
back, but I lack skills in these kinds of games. Playing a shooter game, you
need the ability to understand the controls. Without basic knowledge of what
each button does it puts you at a great disadvantage. Next, you should have a
decent understanding of your weapons, whether an energy sword, a pistol,
grenades, assault rifles, machine gun, or a bazooka (a personal favorite). Once
a game starts, there are tons of people running around, hiding, ducking,
dodging, shooting, stabbing, sniping, you name it. You need a strategy to do
well. Yes, you may re-spawn, but that may deduct points. Depending on the mode,
the strategy is ultimately to kill the enemy more than they kill you to win. To
be good, you need to think ahead, be aware of where your surrounding enemies
are, use amazing reflexes, and take the enemy down.
Legend of Zelda, Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy. Who would think ahead in these games?! There
is no need! Uh… actually, there is. Legend of Zelda (LoZ). No matter which
one you play, whether Legend of Link to Breath of the Wilds, there is a lot of thinking
ahead. The number of puzzles in this game amazes me. Even something simple like
a door latch. You are in a dungeon. You know you must get from point A to point
B, but how? You just began the process of thinking ahead, the process of
figuring out a puzzle! I have honestly had to put down LoZ games because the
puzzles were so great I could not figure it out in the moment. But I came back
and thought and explored options and eventually figured out how to beat the
puzzle. Dragon Quest has many, many, many battle scenarios. In boss battles
especially, one must think ahead to the possible scenarios and timing of
healing, buffing, and attacks. Sometimes you must try to defeat that boss again
because you didn’t plan well enough. Perhaps you ran out of MP and didn’t buy
any magic water to replenish it. But the next time, you will have planned even
better. And just like a game of chess a boss can be unpredictable, doing a move
you haven’t seen before and taking you off guard! In Final Fantasy, I want to
talk about the Final Fantasy Tactics games for Gameboy and DS. These consist of
thinking ahead for what items are needed for a quest, terrain plays a part in
attacks and defense, and predicting the moves of the enemy. Sounds a lot like
glorified chess to me.
Let me go back in time for a moment to Atari and Arcade
games. The first game that comes to mind is Pac-Man. As soon as the game starts
you begin to think of the quickest way to collect all the dots without getting
caught by the ghosts and strategize your moves to collect the bigger dots in
the perfect moment to conquer the ghosts. If you win this game by pure luck and
don’t think ahead, please let me know. I would like to sit down and have you
tell me how to do it. Tetris is an intensely satisfying game if you have OCD.
You can’t just push down on the controller and expect to win. One must think
ahead about what pieces could fit where and how to get the most lines to
disappear with one play. Galaga is one of the most satisfying button smashing
games if you ask me. But if you do not stop firing missiles you end up blowing
yourself up. You are required think ahead and plan your move and when to fire at
the precise moment to defeat the enemy.
Now for what most video games the populous plays, but might
not admit: apps on your phones or tablets. I don’t even know what is all out
there. Some of these games I might agree with that boy’s father that you don’t
think ahead in these games. One turns their brain off and makes it mindless
entertainment. But let me name a few games that you do not have to think ahead
with if you are aiming to win: Candy Crush and Temple Run. Candy Crush can have
strategy, but most of the time it is a mindless way to waste time. Connecting
matching candy to gain points over and over; your strategy begins to turn into
a blur of sugary colors. You most likely lose the ‘thinking ahead’ aspect. Temple
run is basically a game for reflexes and responding time. Not much thinking
ahead. Same goes with Flappy Bird.
As you can see, I don’t have many games to give a bad rap
on. Most video games consist of thinking ahead and working on strategy or
puzzle solving. So if someone tells you that you don't have to think to play video games, you should definitely tell them otherwise.
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