Fulfilling wishes like a Djinn, that’s the recipe for success behind many game hits. What wish should an online game fulfill for you soon?
The wish to step into other lives
When looking at what “surprise hits” seemingly came out of nowhere in recent years, they all have one thing in common: they fulfill players a wish they may not have even known they had. Fantasies, perhaps a childhood dream or an idea, could suddenly be lived out.
With such surprise hits, we are not referring to any technically superior games or actual masterpieces that can be agreed upon, such as Witcher 3 or a Destiny – although those surely fulfill wishes too. We mean those things that no one sees coming.
A “The Sims” suddenly becomes a hit because players gain order in a life, everything is quantifiable and measurable, and you can feel the progress. A “Harvest Moon” or “Stardew Valley” soar to popularity with a strong simplification of life. Or Pokémon GO, the current hype game, allows fans to live out their long-held fantasy, not just controlling a Pokémon trainer but really stepping into their shoes.
World of Warcraft also fulfills the wish for meaning in life
Looking out the window, one could also interpret the success of World of Warcraft at the end of the 2000s as such a wish fulfillment: an escape from reality into a much more exciting life. Instead of leading a not really measurable everyday life somewhere in nowhere, you suddenly experience adventures, have clear goals, take on responsibility in a team, celebrate progress, and find meaning in what you do.
Currently, it seems that with virtual reality and augmented reality, we are coming significantly closer to some “wish fulfillment scenarios” than in recent years.
In the short term, there was a hype around “Sword Art Online”; for a brief moment, it seemed like there was truly the possibility to fully immerse oneself in such a virtual reality, as described in an anime. However, this turned out to be a marketing gimmick. Disappointing for some who would have gladly given up ten years of their “real life” just to spend a year in Sword Art Online.
Schuhmann says: So I’m into simulations, whether world domination, sports teams, or a medieval noble family – and you can tell with current games that you quickly hit limits because the AI is based on scripts and every situation eventually becomes predictable. The chaotic, individual element, the unpredictable, is often missing for me. This is indeed a wish I have barely come closer to since my childhood. I don’t need virtual or augmented reality for that; a significant improvement in AI would help me so that my wishes come true. And that doesn’t seem to be in vogue right now.
Our question: What wish do you have that a game should fulfill for you?
