Growing

it's pretty amazing how, no matter what sophisticated, cutting-edge, high-requirement, explosion-laden, blood'n'gore-filled game you get, i still end up spending hours in front of the screen spamming one key or mouse button to that annoyingly addictive flash game. way back when, it used to be solitaire (i swear the cards are the devil's work) then it was some random game on newgrounds, then it was those flashportal games i'd get in my e-mail. the games themselves change, but the concept is pretty much constant.

as to why this happens? who can really say. i like to think of it (as i do with most things) in a sense that to make the great seem great, you have to know what the epic fails are like. that and sometimes your brain just doesn't want to deal with all the complexities of the high-end games and just wants to chillax with simple things. conceptually it's like pinball, all you have to do is control those two flicky things at the bottom of the screen (or if you're old skool enough, at the bottom of the table) and the (only?) working variable is the rng or gravity. yet, i do recall spending a significant amount of my childhood wasting away, pressing the <- and -> keys trying to beat that high score (which obviously was always held by my elder brother). srs bznz.

in any case, i had long forgotten all these simple pleasures, being drowned in a world of work, studies, and designer games; only to be reminded by a group of games called 'grow' series.

http://jayisgames.com/tag/grow

i warn you, if you click the link you might end up missing several hours of your (equally unproductive, if it is anything like mine is) life, and cursing the gaming gods for still not being able to solve some of the puzzles. don't spoil the fun by grabbing the walkthrough before you've even attempted the game, you're definitely missing out on some good times (wasting).

i forwarded one of the games to a friend of mine some time ago:

me: hey, A why don't you check out this. pretty cool stuff.
A: wtf is this. grow up, you're not 11 anymore. get back to work and stop slacking your ass off.
me: good point :/ gah so many things to do. catch up with you later

(notice how the conversation could have at least had a hello/howareyou?/goodbye premise, but nope, such is the way of life). anyways, a few days later:

A: HAH i beat it. eat that sukka.
me: ?
A: the game you forwarded me.
me: oh. which one was that
A: you know the one where you build an island and research stuff to make the people happy (insert more generic game plots from this series)
me: oh yeah. hmm. grats? have you done the other one where you build a space ship?
A: f that. i just finished this and got sidetracked on work which i was supposed to have finished 2 days ago.
me: damn. well i guess that's what you get for being 11, huh?
A: f u. not sucking me into another one of your addictive games.
me: /shrug oh well get back to work, then. i won't keep you from it.
A: yeh, i'll catch up with you over the weekend.

come saturday...
A: bitchhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh finished that space ship. booyah.
me: ...
A: what?
me: i assume you did your work before trying that?
A: yes and no...
me: mhm.
A: anyways i can't meet up today gotta get... er. work done...
me: that's fine. just don't get addicted to the next addition to the series.
A: there's a new one?
me: oh yeah, this time you build a ...
A: @*(()()@!)&$). screw you and the series.
*A has gone offline*
me: :(

i wonder if she actually got back to work or if she ended up playing the whole series. another unsolved mystery worthy of the X-files. also, before i forget, here's a web comic which depicts my situation perfectly (albeit in my case i don't have the super-awesome-1337haxxorz game machine as portrayed):

http://xkcd.com/484/

which conveniently sets the stage for my next post - webcomics which i enjoy! for those uninitiated to xkcd - shame on you, and grats on finding out. for those all too familliar, i hoped it's given you the chuckles and sneers i've had over the years. mo powa to xkcd, uniting nerds of all race, religion and operating-system preferences.