10 Signs You're Playing an Award-Winning Video Game
It's not wasting time, it's supporting the arts
Video games are art now. It’s been a long time since the world’s most popular game was about eating dots and running from ghosts. Now, they’re about legacy, and grief, and the weight of history. They come with hundred-hour scripts, invented languages, and thousands of side characters, most of whom are willing to sell you new weapons.
I’ve recently played several of the most acclaimed games from the last few years — partly because I take my role as a patron of the arts seriously, partly because reality gets a little bit worse every day. After enough hours, you start to see a pattern in the most high-minded games. The ones that win awards are often built from similar blueprints, kind of like how the Oscar usually goes to the saddest movie about World War II.
Here’s how you know you’re playing a future classic:
The title of the game is either one word long (i.e. Obliteration) or nine words long (i.e. Demon Slayer Saga: Dark Origins of Ishiiko, Hell Detective)
It’s the most intensely difficult thing you’ve ever attempted.
The main character cries a lot.
You cry a lot.
It got five stars from YouTube’s most respected video game reviewer, @skunkdick420.
A24 has already licensed the film rights.
There is an enormous online backlash against the game developer because one (1) character is female.
It is currently on sale for the low, low price of $75.
It was a collaboration between more than 10,000 artists at dozens of studios spread across multiple continents, all of whom slept under their desks to make the release date.
A sequel has been announced and will be released in 7 to 20 years.
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