Gaming for Peace

“I believe that we are here for each other, not against each other. Everything comes from an understanding that you are a gift in my life – whoever you are, whatever our differences.”

– John Denver

Russia invaded Ukraine last week amid a global pandemic, persistent supply chain issues, economic uncertainty, and continued politically fueled anger in America. Not exactly a time to sit around playing games. But just before the Russian invasion I learned of an interesting international training project, the prototype, computer-based Gaming for Peace (GAP) that intends to teach military peacekeepers “soft skills” focusing on building trust, teamwork, cultural awareness, and helpful communication. According to the website, GAP is “new training curricula for enhancing the preparedness and skills of personnel for conflict prevention and peace keeping missions.” I gave it a try. It seemed to me an exercise not only in building soft skills but in broadening one’s experience in empathizing with others, both those on your team and those you’re helping. Working with others for peace, compassion, and greater understanding seems like something the world needs a bit more of right now.

Rogue-Like Games Demonstrate Grinder/Heroic Dichotomy

In my need for escapist entertainment lately I’ve fallen back on computer games, including several in the “rogue-like” genre. Yes, those solo, dungeon-delving games based on Rogue from 1980 with dungeon elements defined by ASCII characters. Seems like everyone’s making their own version (much like the Old School Renaissance); I happen to like Pixel Dungeon for its upgraded graphics and interesting magical item uses. Just a few clicks and I’m exploring a random dungeon with monsters, magic items, and plenty of opportunities to meet a horrid end. I don’t care, it’s fun, caters to my interest in fantasy gaming, and doesn’t require me to invest too much time, energy, or focus. I juxtapose this play style with the kind of tabletop roleplaying game session that satisfies my needs in my middle-aged years: heroic characters taking on epic challenges in my favorite genres, where they stand a decent chance of survival despite seemingly insurmountable odds. This illustrates to me the vast differences between “grinder” style games and heroic play, and reinforces why I prefer the latter in my full-fledged roleplaying game endeavors.

“Helm Aye, Captain!” or An Engaging Cooperative Gaming Experience

I don’t usually discuss digital games at Hobby Games Recce; it’s all about analog tabletop games, the wargames, board and card games, and roleplaying games I typically lump together under the “adventure gaming” label. But I recently enjoyed a particularly immersive, engaging cooperative game experience on computers I feel merits note considering its essential “social” aspect.

I spent a wonderful New Year’s holiday at an old friend’s house with his family and a host of acquaintances who shared interests in gaming and geekdom; we ate, drank, and talked, I enjoyed watching our kids play together (assaulting each other and various guests with space battleships they built from bristle blocks), and somehow passed on playing Ticket to Ride despite its prominent placement on a dining room table.

Instead I tried a new computer game beyond my normal experience and technical ability: the Artemis Spaceship Bridge Simulator. It’s essentially a real-time cooperative computer game played over several networked workstations, one for each major crew member on a large starship bridge – helm, weapons, engineering, science (sensors), and communications – plus one monitor as the “main screen” serving as the captain’s view; the captain has no workstation and hence no means of personally affecting his ship’s actions beyond issuing orders to crew members at relevant stations. It’s essentially a Star Trek bridge simulator with the serial numbers filed off.