I have many and varied skills - ok, a few anyway - but it's safe to say that computer games are not one of them! Every so often I come across a game which looks tempting, so might give it a try, but my enthusiasm is usually dampened by failure or at the very least inability to progress (Unravel 2, I'm looking at you). However, over the years there have been a very few notable exceptions, without much obvious connection between them except that they have 'cute' graphics!
Back in the days of the Nintendo DS, I came across the 'MySims' games; rather than the realistic style of the normal Sims games, these were in a more child-like style, and were great fun. The original one of these was the first game I ever got close to completing - there was just one gold medal which eluded me, no matter how many times I practiced the particular skill needed - but I was hooked! We ended up with a selection of MySims games on the DS, Wii and PC, and I was truly sad when they stopped being made.
Since then, I've been back at my usual level of inability at almost every game I've tried. Despite hours spent playing Mario Kart on the Wii, I just couldn't manage to get very far through the different kinds of engine sizes etc. and definitely couldn't manage without some of the automatic help. However, having been given a Switch four years ago, and having Mario Kart on that, I seem to have developed my skills miraculously. There are still definitely tracks and engine sizes which are utterly beyond my ability, but I've managed to get 3* gold trophies on all the tracks (including the bonus ones) on 50cc and 100cc, and a handful of the reversed ones too. Not only that, but I've been known to beat Mr B occasionally, which is the most miraculous of all!
The one game I've managed to complete properly since MySims is deBlob2, on the Switch. We had this on the Wii, and although Mr B completed it easily enough, I just couldn't manage some of the tasks. However, having remembered how much fun it was, I bought it last year, and spent last summer playing it at pretty much every opportunity! Once work got busy in the autumn I had to put it aside for a while, but I came back to it a couple of months later and managed to beat the big baddie (eventually!) then discovered there was one more level. Fortunately the big end level battle at the end of that was much easier than I expected! There are a couple of side quests which I haven't quite completed - a few things unpainted in the level I found most difficult, a few style or other icons not collected, but this is by far the most complete I've managed any game since MySims and MySims Kingdom on the Nintendo DS, and I don't see any way I'll manage to complete it any more than it is without finding a walk-through and using that to make sure I capture everything - but that just doesn't sound like a fun way of spending countles hours!
The other game I can lose far too much time playing is Bloons TD6 on my phone. The premise is simple - you need to place monkeys with various weapons strategically around a track so that they can burst all the balloons which go along it each level. Different 'bloons' can only be burst by particular kinds of weapons, and some are camoflaged so monkey towers need special skills or equipment to see them.
So what do Mario Kart, deBlob 2, and Bloons TD 6 have in common which makes them appeal to me so much? My best guess is that none of these are too hard so are suitable and manageable for someone like me with very limited gaming skill. They don't need clever strategy, and the controls are easy to learn. They also all have various difficulty levels, so particularly when re-playing things I can choose what I'm in the mood for. In Mario Kart, I can increase the difficulty by changing engine size, trying different cars/tyres/gliders etc. to suit - and occasionally discover that what looks like a ridiculous car is surprisingly good for me! deBlob can be soothing (and occasionally frustrating!) to just go round painting things and freeing the little graydians. This also has a very handy 2-player mode which can be very helpful to reach things which are otherwise very hard to paint, although it's definitely less fun as the second player as you only have a pointer rather than a cute character. Bloons is easy to pick up and put down; it's possible to develop some strategies which work better than others, but different tracks need different approaches, so it's not just a cases of finding a good set of towers and using them every time.
I've also looked into charities which work to improve inclusion, or provide access to gaming, as part of the Gamer badge. Charities such as Special Effect aim to improve inclusion in gaming by making it more accessible to people with physical disabilities. Solutions such as modified controls, or eye-tracking sensors enable players to play games with other players as well as independently. Eye Mine is a piece of software which is compatible with a range of eye-tracking software, enabling players to play Minecraft without using a keyboard or mouse. Not only that, but it can also be used with a joystick, trackball, or head-controlled mouse, for example. It's not difficult to see how important tools such as this are, in giving players access to games that their friends, family, and peers can play.
TheRockinR is a small charity which provides gaming carts to sick children and young people in hospitals and hospices throughout the UK and Ireland. These carts help to reduce the effects of isolation, stress, and anxiety on the patients, and make it easier for them to continue social interaction with siblings and friends. They are designed to minimise the space requirements, but to provide everything necessary: a height-adjustable screen and work surface, two controllers, and at least 10 games pre-loaded on the console, including Mario Kart, Animal Crossing, Minecraft. In addition, apps such as Netflix, Disney+, and YouTube are provided. And since games get outdated regularly, a Revamp can be purchased to update and upgrade the games on a cart too.
There are still a few clauses to complete for this badge, so I'll blog more on them later when they're done.
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