When Do Players Start Taking Games Seriously?

Games are meant to be fun, correct? Sometimes depending on the game, or what the developer wants the player to experience, that ideology can go straight out the window. Some might not get a kick out of what is being offered, while others might play that game and enjoy it despite the game doing everything in its power to make sure you don’t have fun. But regardless of the genre, or style of game you decide to sit down and experience, games are a recreation that people can enjoy either by themselves, or with random strangers across the internet, or with their friends. This can be especially true with couch gaming sessions with your buddies. From Mario Party to split-screen Halo, or something like Super Smash Bros. Depending on your friend group, there might be a moment, a single flicker in time, where someone decides that they want to win the game. Even though it’s all good times and everyone is just here to hang out, we all have that one person in our life that decides, no. Today, I will win the video game. And they do the tried-and-true sit up and lean forward, with their elbows on their thighs; signaling to everyone in the room. This guy wants to win. Others might follow suit after seeing the first person, but this got me thinking, when do we as players of video games begin to take them “seriously”. And why? If we’re here to have fun, what makes a person take that extra step to wanting to be victorious in a game with friends? I have some personal experience with this myself, so I wonder if my experience was the same as anyone else's. So, let’s talk about the when, why and how for players getting serious.

Not every game and genre is inheritably competitive. Sure, anyone can make a competition out of anything; it’s kind of human nature to try and one-up each other if you're with the right crowd. But to me, genres like adventure games, RPG’s and family style games are difficult to get competitive over. Granted, if you are doing some sort of self-imposed challenge or if you’re a speed runner, then any genre of game is technically competitive. But generally, shooters, fighting games, sports games, and strategy games are usually associated with being more competitive than other genres. I’m sure I am forgetting some that might be even more than these listed, but bear with me. One great old example is the Mario Party series. Where you are actively trying to collect the most coins and stars to win. And if you are playing with 4 players, it can get chaotic fast. Everyone is trying to deceive and manipulate the game board to have things go in their way. That series can be a blast to play, because there is always that one person who is in last and decides to screw over everyone else because they know they themselves can’t win. I’ve been there myself and the antics that ensue because of that mentality switch mid-game is always worth the loss. But right there; what I just said. That moment where in your head you decide to get serious and try to either win, or screw around and mess with everyone else playing. That’s an active choice, and I’ve always wondered when and more importantly, why do we make those choices. It’s very related to the thumbnail of this video. This image of the guy initially sitting back, relaxing playing a game. And then for some reason, he feels the need to sit up and lean forward; allowing him to focus more. It’s a fantastic template for a meme because it’s so relatable. We’ve all done this at one point or another. Whether it was playing online or at a friend's house with a bunch of people in the same room, this image is very spot on with what I am trying to convey but am honestly kind of having a difficult time doing. So, I wanted to ask when we do this when we play games. And what situations would get that reaction out of us.

The first time I remember doing something like that with other people is playing Smash Bros. At a friend's house. It always starts fun and jovial, just messing around trying to remember how to play because I don’t own the game and haven’t played in several months. The first couple rounds are relatively low-key. But then after the third game or so, you get down to one stock and you don’t want to get knocked out first again, so I lean forward and focus up. And this is the first time in the second half of my life so far, that I clearly remember “focusing up”. That phrase is synonymous with the thumbnail image, also “lock it in” works here too. But if I may embarrass myself here for a moment, I have distinct memories of when I was maybe four and I was playing Diddy Kong Racing on the Nintendo 64, and I instead of leaning forward to focus, would stand up and bounce one of my legs. So, I guess I’ve been doing stuff that emulates this meme since I was a kid. And I can’t articulate it into words as to why. Maybe because doing something like leaning forward or in my case standing up would help keep me focused? Maybe; it could be a placebo. But this need to “focus up” was very much a real thing back on the old Xbox 360 days. Modern Warfare 2 especially, I was an ultra-sweaty try hard back then, my god. I took playing online and doing well very seriously, for no good reason. What’s worse is when my friends and I would play private games and go on different teams and play objective game modes. For some reason, I tried even harder in those moments. I guess because I wanted to do well and thought at the time it would make me look cool. Granted, I enjoyed doing well getting lots of kills or being able to clutch up a round. And in all those moments, I’m sure I did something to the effect of leaning forward and really trying to focus and pay attention.

Regardless of what human tick we might have, at one point or another we’ve all done something that elicits this kind of a reaction. Whether it’s you’re down to your last life, the final round, or last lap; anything where you need to make a comeback and there is the potential chance for it, most people find themselves doing something in a similar vain to leaning forward. And that goes double for games like Escape From Tarkov. A crucial quest item or killing a heavily geared PMC will most definitely get any player sweating and focusing as hard as possible to get those items out of the raid. In fact, most situations in Tarkov are going to get your version of the “lean forward tick” going at full force. Now obviously, Tarkov being the type of game it is, makes sense that it would have the hairs on your neck standing up most of the time while playing. Or a more recent example, I’ve been playing DOOM Eternal and man, that game has me basically kissing my monitor with how close I get sometimes. So many times, you’re down to very low hp on the cusp of dying, but with good movement, aim, and spacial awareness, you can win the fight and feel like badass all at the same time. It’s another example of when even single-player games can challenge you to the point you need to adjust how you engage with the game to be able to give yourself the best chance possible of winning.

This is especially true for game modes that maybe aren’t meant to be taken so seriously. Something like League of Legends’ ARAM mode, where you are given a random character to play is meant to be a more low-key casual way to play their game, and experience what League has to offer. Or even their special URF event, where your characters abilities can be spammed instead of having to normally wait for their cooldown to reset. People overtime have begun to take these modes more seriously than before. Which illicit two potential responses: the player base has decided that all modes in League should be played with the same level of severity as the normal mode, or and this might just be the most simple but honest answer, people just don’t like to lose. Even if it’s in a silly extra bonus mode. I know from experience that URF can be toxic, and that’s supposed to be the goof around mode that only shows up a couple times a year. But one thing that has also happened with these kinds of modes, is not ending the night on a loss. The idea of “just one more game”. This can be seen as taking the game seriously because I just want to win so I can go to bed. But at the same time, with the right people, this can also devolve into everyone exhausted still playing at 3 am, giggling at the stupid things coming out of each other's mouths because you’re all so tired. There was an active choice to stay up and keep playing. Even though you will be feeling the ramifications of that the next day.

This meme picture was the entire catalyst for this video, if I’m being honest. It’s something I’ve wanted to have a conversation about but was unsure how to start it. But the simple, simple act of leaning forward whilst playing a video game is such a relatable moment that many of us can reflect on and think “I’ve done that before, I’m guilty of it too”. Whether it was at a friend's house, online with your buddies, online with people across the internet, or by yourself with a single-player game. With so many genres, titles, and experiences to have, we’ve all leaned forward at least once, trying to lock it in. And it certainly won’t be the last time we do it. Thank you very much for taking the time out of your day to watch this video. Let me know in the comments if you have found yourself leaning forward while gaming, or if you have any other kind of quirk that basically equates to getting serious and be sure to subscribe for more videos about the silly idiosyncrasies that can ensue, consciously or not while playing a game. I hope to see you in future ones.