On Gaming the "Right" Way

I was trawling the forums yesterday, and I came across a thread started by a someone who said:
"Hi all, I'm new to [Game X]. I'm loving it so far. Anybody have any tips for helping me play the right way?"

This started me thinking. Is there really a "right" way to play a video game?

I don't think so. Here's why.

Video games are viewed as an entertainment experience by many. But in many games, and in RPGs in particular, they are more than just a beginning, middle and end. They represent a problem to solve. Playing "right" or playing "wrong" is not the point of video gaming, because players who hold themselves to someone else's standard of right and wrong play are fated to be disappointed in the experience the game provides. It's like trying to pick up every collectible and read every little note and sheet of paper within a game; it is too easy to lose track of the game objective. The player becomes adrift on a sea of secondary objectives and minutiae, never experiencing the game for himself / herself. The "right" way to play a game is to grapple with it yourself, and find your own solutions.

Finding your own solutions involves making mistakes. Some of those mistakes wound a gamer's pride. Like going into a boss battle with only one health potion. That is unquestionably stupid. And it is wrong. The game lets you know this by forcing you to die repeatedly until you get the message. The question then becomes, are you going to reload a save from before the boss fight, purchase a boatload of potions, then fight the boss, or are you going to throw your hands up in the air in disgust at your own stupidity? (Or worse, blame the game for your own problems?) But wait a minute: the concept of "making a mistake" implies that there IS indeed a "right" and a "wrong" way to play.

Perhaps instead of thinking of de facto right and wrong way to play, it is better to conceive of a video game's "path to success." I define a "path to success" as a method of playing a video game such that all primary objectives are completed without undue frustration on the part of the player. Some games offer multiple paths to success. Some offer only one. It can be fun to mix parts of different paths (in games that permit that), and come up with your own path to success. When presented with multiple paths, the question of the "right" or "wrong" way to play becomes moot, because how to play the game devolves entirely onto the player's personal preference. The Mass Effect games are a great example of this. When presented with a single path, playing "wrong" is not really possible (thinking of Alan Wake here); there is one way to go - all that needs to be done is traverse the path that is laid out.

Now, if someone asks the right way to play a specific path, it is possible to receive a more objective answer. Like how to take the Stealth path in Deus Ex: Human Revolution, or how to lead the Shimazu clan to domination in Shogun II Total War. But if someone asks the "right" way to play Deus Ex: Human Revolution or Shogun II Total War in general, that tells me that maybe the asker is someone afraid to make a mistake and learn from it. Or perhaps the asker simply has seen people having fun with the game and wants to have the same fun - and thinks that playing the way their friends play will impart the same amount of joy. Or perhaps the asker is looking for a quick-start shortcut to getting the most out of the game en route to consuming it as quickly as possible before moving on to the next game.

They are missing the point of playing video games in the first place. Video gamers are fascinated by discovery, creativity and problem solving, whether the game under discussion is Farmville, Age of Empires, Saints Row or Dragon Age Inquisition. What is the right way to play? Who cares. Have FUN!