I get asked this question a lot; I’m always happy to talk about my favorite compulsion games. It’s an interesting topic because, while I’m sure we all play some games, I’ve never felt the need to list any of my favorites. I think it’s because I don’t think I’ve ever been in a game where the idea of “winning” was on the line.
Im sure Ive played many games that have been so desperate for me to win that Ive been compelled to play them. Ive certainly played many games where in the end it was just a matter of luck. Like a classic game of chess where once you play your opening you can’t lose. As in, you can’t let anyone else win.
Well, I will admit that in games where the end is not in doubt, I like to feel compelled to win. For example, if you are playing a game of Scrabble, I like to be the one with the best letters. I like to feel so good about my word that I cant help but want to be the one with the best words. As in I cant help but be the one with the best letters when Im out on a Scrabble tournament circuit.
Games where there is no winning end are like those self-imposed prison escapees who have no sense of what they are doing. If you want to escape, you have to do it yourself. You have to choose how you want to get out. To not do so is like a prisoner who is trying to escape but he cant. I know this because I went to a game where you had to pick your own escape route. I chose to stay.
This is a compulsion game. It is a game where you have to put yourself in a position to succeed. You have to have the will to do what you have to do, and this involves a lot of self-awareness. The idea is simple. If you want to win, you need to put yourself in a situation where you feel you are strong enough to win.
I used to play this kind of game as a child. I’d get so frustrated by the amount of time I had to lose that I’d pick a time when I thought I knew what I had to do to beat the game. I’d put that time to use. Now I try to put it to use more often. I know this because I was the one who suggested trying out the new Dauntless. I picked that because I thought it was a great idea.
When I first heard about Dauntless, I thought I would love it. I loved the idea of using a game to teach you discipline. It was going to make me a better person, and I just wanted to play it, and see what all the hype was about. I thought the game would be this great opportunity to show you what you’d been missing if you didn’t start learning discipline from childhood.
I was wrong. I tried the game, and it was too much. I was so caught up in being a part of the hype that I was not able to learn anything, I was just so addicted to winning that it was killing me. So I stopped playing it, and that stopped me.
Like any form of addiction, the compulsion to win comes with a bad side effect: You will never learn to accept the consequences of what you are doing. If you are constantly competing with other people for a goal, you will never let go. It also makes it more likely that you will lose focus on what you are doing to achieve that goal. This is especially true when the game is a game of skill, because you can never be sure your opponent is as good as you are.
The other side of this is that it might make you feel like you are playing a game where you are competing with someone who is really better than you. It might lead you to doubt yourself when you have an opponent who has better skills than you do. The game just might make you question your abilities. I think I had to stop playing it just because it made me doubt myself.