Is Cheating Okay In Video Games?
Well, single-player games anyway. But, how important is the player experience versus the designer’s vision in gaming?
What is the point of a game? It seems like a simple question at first, but like many things, it gets more complicated the closer you look. You might first think the point of a game is to have fun. Sounds reasonable. But without getting into the philosophical quandary of what it means to have fun, what about games like Chess?
It’s engaging and fulfilling, but is it “fun”? You don’t often see players laughing and cheering with each move. Okay, so the point of games is to win? Well, plenty of games don’t have a winner. Games like Minecraft don’t have a winner. So where does that leave us?
Well, except Bed Wars, but you know what I mean.
One major debate over the last couple years involves the merit of the player’s experience versus the designer’s intent. Dark Souls in particular sparked some debate over the difficulty of the game.
One side states that the designers intentionally made the game difficult to fit the tone and themes of the game. If Dark Souls were easier, it would take away something fundamental to the experience of playing the game. Players wouldn’t just lose the feelings of hopelessness, but the feelings of satisfaction when overcoming obstacles and growth that come along with practice.
More recently, Metroid: Dread had a similar discussion.
The other side argues that players shouldn’t be limited in playing a game if they can’t get through a certain section of it. And there are plenty of reasons why this might be the case. If a player buys a game, they should be able to have an enjoyable– and perhaps meaningful– experience, whatever that means to them. Feeling defeated and denigrated because you weren’t able to beat a game is definitely not the point of playing.
Games don’t need to provide a challenge to leave a lasting impact.
So, What’s the Answer?
Games are art. That’s not a debate. So is it more important to maintain the designer’s vision of their art? Or is it more important to allow all players to engage with that art in whatever manner suits them best?
Well, here’s the real answer…
I don’t care. And neither should you. Your experience is your own.
This is true for the designers and the players. The designers put their art out there, they have said what they want to say and we, as players, can engage with that media however we want. People have their own interpretations of movies and novels. Why don’t we extend the same freedom to video games? My experience doesn’t affect yours. And thinking it does is doing yourself a disservice by clouding your own mind with things you can’t affect.
Does the idea of people diluting the creator’s vision with lower-difficulty options, hacks, or mods grinds your gears? Well I’ve got some bad news for you: I’ve been cheating at games for a long time– and you never even knew it!
Real video dudes don’t follow rules – they make ’em.
Players can start with add-ons like Game Genie and Game Shark, or go through a third party mods and hacks. More recently, players can use services like Plitch. Plitch is a game client that runs alongside tons of popular modern games.
Each game comes with tons of codes for things like God Mode, Unlimited Ammo, EXP Boosting, or whatever makes sense for the game. Even Slay The Spire has Godmode and Infinite Energy. Sometimes I play without mods, and sometimes I add all of them.
My moods are as capacious as the sea! …Sorry, I’ve been reading a lot of historical pirate literature recently.
Infinite Grenades should be a cheat in every game. No exceptions.
The point is this: your experience with a game is yours. If you want a tough challenge to overcome, allowing you to feel that sense of reward and accomplishment, that’s awesome. I love that for you.
If you want a play-through that fits your abilities so you can enjoy the ride, that’s awesome. I love that for you, too.
But you shouldn’t feel like you’re supposed to play it one way or the other. You should feel free to lower the difficulty without worry that you’re playing “wrong”. So go on, add in those cheats and hacks so you can absolutely destroy Iudex Gundyr in one hit. And don’t worry about what anyone else thinks.
You should also feel totally free to crank that difficulty to the max and die ten million times before finally beating him so you can revel in your accomplishment.
It’s your game.
