When I was a casual game player (decades ago), I liked Hidden Object Games or HOGs as they were called. As the name implied, the main purpose is to find objects that are hidden in the scene. It’s pretty much as simple as that. At least it was when I played them. Then, the devs decided that they needed to make the games adventure games because, oh, I don’t know, they felt guilty about putting out the same game over and over again? Soon, they were putting in morphing objects and collectibles. I hate that shit, but I also feel compelled to find every one. Which is part of the reasons I quit playing them. Another was the aforementioned collectibles. The last reason was that I started playing “hard” games and relegated casual games to a once-in-a-while thing.
I still like HOGs, though, and Steam has started to have more and more of them on the platform. We now have a sub-category that I’ll call hidden cat games. As you can probably tell, that’s right up my alley. I love cats and I used to like hidden object games. What more do I need?
Well.
I feel a bit ungenerous in what I’m about to say.
I don’t like the way it’s being implemented. In most HOGs, the objects are hidden in a way to make them blend into the background. Plus, it’s usually ten or fifteen hidden objects per scene. The new breed of HOGs (and the one in which most cat HOGs fall) is to just throw a shit ton of objects on the scene, pretty artlessly.
In the case of the cats, it’s just hundreds of cats tossed in the background. There are some other objects to find as well, but it’s mostly just tons of cats. I’ve played several of these games, and I’m bored with it already. If there’s nothing else to reel me in, then I don’t really want to play it. I’m not saying it’s a cynical money grab, but, I’m also not saying it’s not.
How does this tie into the Steam Next Fest? One of the demos I saw was for one of these games by a developer of whom I had bought their two previous games–which were exactly the same. That’s three games in a year, which is very similar to how the devs in casual games dropped their games. Same game just with a palette swap. This series is really pretty, I’ll give it that, but it’s…boring. There are literally over a hundred object in each scene. If you keep the ‘page’ at the regular size, you will miss half the objects beacuse they simply won’t appear.
You can enlarge the page to the point where you have maybe one-fortieth of the page on screen. But then you have the chance to miss something when you’re scrolling to the next part of the scene. There is a hint, but you have to wait something like 2 minutes for it to refresh. I read a hint that if you go out of the level and go back in, then the time resets.
I tried out the demo, but it was exactly the same as the other games, so I said no. I tried a few other in the genre, but they left me bored, too. I also tried another game that I thought was a chill growing birds game. Well, it was, sort of. It’s one of those idle games, and it had absolutely no tutorial as to how to buy items. I had to watch a video on it, and that’s when I realized it was an idle game. Which I do not play. I don’t get them, honestly.
I feel a bit adrift since I finished playing The Spirit Lift (prettysmart games) a few weeks ago. I get this way with games. Well, with life in general, but games specifically. I hone in on something and that’s my whole life It can last a month or it can least years, but then once I’m done, I’m done. My last therapist said in a chiding tone, “You know that’s not a good thing, right?” Yeah, I do. Well, at the time, I would have said I did.
Now, however, I would say that it’s part not ‘not good’ and part my neuroatypical brain doing its neuroatypical thing. To be fair to my therapist, she mentioned it was not a good thing in terms of my relationships, which is true. In terms of my hobbies and such? Well, it’s not the healthiest thing, perhaps, but it’s not terrible, either. At this point, I accept that I’m going to enjoy one of my lesser hobbies for a month or two and then completely drop it.
That’s just how I roll. I really dig something for a month or two, and then I drop it. Like I said, I felt bad about it when I was younger, but not any longer. I’m just going to enjoy something for as long as I enjoy it and then move on with my life. What’s wrong with that? Nothing, says I. I do have to tuck it in to be a functioning adult, but after that, I can do what I want to do.
It’s funny how when I realize that each obsession will be a month or two, it’s easier to deal with them than if I try to fight them. And they tend to ebb away on their own after an acceptable amount of time. Yes, some last longer than others, but if they aren’t my enduring hobbies, then they just disapppear into a puff. I mean, it makes sense. If it’s not a long-lasting hobby like Taiji (twenty years) then it’s going to be a short-lasting one. I’m just restating it to make my point.
It’s the same as friendships, really. I learned a long time ago that some of them aren’t meant to be lifelong. You’re lucky if you have a few that are your ride or die. I have three friends like that (and my brother), and I consider myself very lucky. The rest? They are acquaintances or online friends or possible long-term friends, but I just don’t know yet.
I have accepted the duality of my brain. Mostly. Again, I know I have to place limits on how much time I waste on my hobbies, but in general, I don’t worry too much about it.
Damn. No idea how I went down that road, but it’s too late to claw it back. I’m going to let it go and just come back tomorrow to try it again.