Online games are a great way to escape everyday life. Sometimes we need ‘me time’, whether it’s 30-minutes or 3-hours. But escaping life through a game doesn’t necessarily mean you have to lose yourself in another world or on a new planet. There’s beauty in the mundane, which is why we’ve seen an increase in simulator games based on everyday tasks. Of course, these types of games have been around for a while. We all remember The Sims, right? The whole premise was to build a home, go to work, start a family. And people were obsessed with it until advanced games took over, and many forgot that mundane games are just as appealing.
There are several reasons why mundane games are attractive, with the most obvious being that there’s a sense of satisfaction in getting a job done. It’s like how social media platforms have redefined mental gratification. You post a picture, someone likes it, and your mood perks up. When you play mundane games like Airport CEO, where you are the CEO of an airport, you get to walk in someone else’s shoes and complete basic tasks that lead to its success. If you complete the job, you feel good. Maybe you even want to show off to your loved ones the airport you’ve built.
But if we dig deeper, it’s in our nature to enjoy games like Airport CEO and Happy Farm, where you grow crops and sell them. Same with The Stanley Parable, a game in which the player acts as an employee in a bland office building who’s tasked with monitoring data. In psychology, there’s a phenomenon called the mere-exposure effect. It describes how people develop a preference for things because they are familiar with them.
As fun as slaying dragons can be, we’re not familiar with this, other than seeing it done in shows like Games of Thrones. We are, however, familiar with everyday tasks like construction and management, which is the premise of games like Parkitect, and zoning and taxation, which is what you have to control when playing Cities: Skylines. Others
Now that’s not to say just because a game is mundane that it’s not considered a fantasy game. There are many sub-sections to the genre, and this is just one end of the spectrum. Mid-way, you have fantasy games like the upcoming Hogwarts Legacy, and on the other end, you have fantasy slot games like Dragon’s fire and Space Digger. These games allow you to escape life just like in Airport CEO, but this time, you’re doing it in a futuristic setting or by interacting with reels that have fire-breathing dragons. There is something to be said about the variety of games available with slot games, and it seems no theme will go untouched. It’s more than likely that your favorite genre will be covered, whether it’s horror or fantasy.
You don’t have to escape life by slaying dragons, or maybe you do; that’s up to you. The thing to remember is that you have options, and if you want to lose track of time by growing crops, chopping wood like a lumberjack, or managing an airport, you can do that. Familiarity can be fantasy too. It just depends on what you’re looking to get lost in.
DC Fanboy! Superman is the greatest comic book character of all time. Favorite movies are Man of Steel, Goonies, Back To the Future
