Breath of the Wild was one of my first video games after an unintentional gaming hiatus (#adulting, sigh). I was good at it—some of it, at least, things like exploring the map, completing side quests, and flurry rushing enemies. But getting the bonus treasure chest in Ree Dahee Shrine? I couldn’t figure it out.
This was made infinitely worse by the fact that I could see the treasure chest, hopelessly above me, taunting me. Items, runes, armour, food buffs, jumping—nothing worked. This was a game for children, and I, an adult, was stumped. I was embarrassed, doubly so when I eventually looked up the solution.
Which was looking down, by the way. There were metal barrels, which I could use to hit a switch. That was it. That was what stumped me: Something as simple as camera controls.
I had to be the worst gamer ever. If I could even call myself a gamer.
Growing up, I felt a similar pressure to play perfectly or not at all. For games like Harvest Moon DS, I was so invested in beating the game the 'right' way — meaning the completionist way — that I created printed packets, some of which were upwards of 10 pages long. I would never deviate from those packets, even if it meant hours of save-scumming or grinding, for fear of missing even the most inconsequential item or cutscene.
In short: I wanted to play, but I also believed I had to play a certain way.
For years I assumed I was alone in my compulsions, but a 2023 study catalogued behaviour like this under the title of self-critical gamers. They noted that these players are often trying "to avoid criticism and protect self-esteem" via this kind of compulsive gaming.
These perfectionist tendencies are something Daniel Kaufmann, PhD has seen as well, in his research and as director of gaming services at Kindbridge Behavioral Health. Known online as Dr. Gameology, he suggested reframing the question. Instead of asking, 'Am I the worst gamer ever?', try something a little more personal. As an alternative, he offered: 'Are you interested, excited, driven, completed, and fulfilled by the things you're spending your time doing?'
سەرچاوەی فەرمی بە زمانی ئینگلیزی: https://www.nintendolife.com/features/playing-until-we-get-it-right-how-perfectionism-appears-in-gaming
