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Minisode: Why Do We Replay the Same Games Over and Over? · Project Geekology

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: What's up everyone?
• 0:01
  SPEAKER_00: This is Anthony, and welcome back to a mini episode of Project Geekology.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_00: And if I sound a little weird this week, it's because I am trying out that lapel mic that I got for Christmas last year.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_00: I just wanted to check it out, just do a little bit of a test, just so that I know that I have something that I can record with whenever I'm on the go and not at my home setup.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_00: This week we were planning on releasing a discussion of that Mario animated movie that came out a few years ago, but that will be coming out to you all next week.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_00: I am going to be covering something that I feel a lot of us have personally experienced.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_00: Let me ask you a question.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_00: How many times have you played the same game?
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_00: And not just once or twice, maybe a few times, maybe 10 times, maybe 20 times.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_00: I know that there are people out there who play the same game from beginning to end several times.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe games like Skyrim, Red Dead Redemption.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's something like Dark Souls, where you keep coming back even after suffering repeatedly.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_00: And the crazy part is you know what's going to happen.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: You know the story, the mechanics, the twists, the turns, and yet you go back anyway.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_00: Today's question is simple enough.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_00: Why do we replay the same games over and over again?
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: And more importantly, what does that say about us as players?
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_00: I would say you could chalk that question up to many, many reasons.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_00: There's several reasons that I mean the list could be endless.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: The various reasons why you make the decision to play the same game over and over, the same few games over and over.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_00: I chalked it down to four that I really identify with.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_00: And one of those reasons is comfort.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_00: Replaying the same game over and over is almost like watching your favorite show.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_00: I know people who like to revisit the office every year.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_00: Well, with games, you already know the rules.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_00: You already know the world.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_00: There's no learning curve and no stress of figuring things out for the first time.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_00: And in a world that feels very unpredictable, games give us something that a lot of people long for.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_00: Control.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_00: When you launch up a familiar game, you're stepping into a world and a system that you understand.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_00: You know how to win.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_00: You know how to move forward or progress.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_00: You know what works and what doesn't work.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_00: And it kind of creates a mental safe space.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_00: Going back to games like Elder Scrolls 5, Skyrim, or even Oblivion, you can wander, fight, and explore in whichever way you want.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_00: There's no pressure, there's no surprise that you can't handle.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_00: It's not just entertainment, it's comfort gaming.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_00: Very similar to those comfort shows.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_00: But comfort alone isn't just something that brings us back.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes replaying games can be anything but relaxing.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_00: Another reason why we may come back to play the same game over and over, and that's mastering the game or mastery itself, right?
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_00: Mastery of the game.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_00: Some games are built around the idea of you not being perfect or proficient the first time around.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_00: Games like Dark Souls or Roguelikes like Hades 1 and 2 are designed to be replayed.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_00: Every run or every boss fight teaches you something new.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_00: Eventually, you learn the enemy patterns or the boss patterns.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_00: You become strategic, you get faster and better.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_00: And that feeling of improvement, it feels great.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_00: Some might even say it's addictive.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_00: And it really reaches into something deeper.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_00: There's a satisfaction in learning and becoming proficient.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_00: There's a satisfaction of earning a skill that you get in video games.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_00: The first time you beat a boss feels great.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_00: That second time feels earned.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_00: By the time you've reached the 10th or 20th time of beating a boss, you feel like a master or a wizard.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_00: But replaying video games over and over sometimes becomes less about the content and more about you.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_00: But not every person replays a game for a skill.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes games provide different choices.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of modern games are designed with branching story paths.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_00: Some have different endings.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_00: Some have different character builds that you can build.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_00: Some have different outcomes.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_00: When you replay a game, you're not just repeating the same story over and over.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_00: You're also experimenting.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes you decide to choose a different dialogue option in a game.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_00: Some games allow you to be the good character or the bad character.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_00: You get to choose.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe the first time around you were a good character.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_00: So now you want to go down the bad path.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_00: One game that comes to mind when I think of that system is Knights of the Republic.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_00: You can play for the light side or you can play for the dark side.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_00: What if you decide to make a completely different character build?
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_00: Elden Ring or Dark Souls is very popular for that.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of people create different builds.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_00: Even World of Warcraft, there's different classes, different class builds that you can create in World of Warcraft.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_00: Think of games like The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_00: Your decisions in that game actually shape the world and story.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes replaying becomes a way to explore the what-ifs.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_00: It's not like rereading a book or re-watching a movie.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_00: Each playthrough can result in a different outcome or a different ending.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_00: It's almost like exploring alternate timelines.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_00: It's almost like exploring a multiverse within the story of whatever game you're playing.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm going to end on one more reason.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_00: And I know this is a huge reason.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_00: And I know a lot of people can identify with this one.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes we don't just replay games for the challenge or the choice, but for a feeling.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes games are tied to memories.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of times they are.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_00: Where you were in life, who you were with, what you were going through.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_00: It's like video games can sometimes be within a snapshot in your life.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_00: And playing those games can bring up all sorts of feelings that were attached to those moments.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_00: Replaying a game can be like stepping back in time into those moments.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_00: That's why people keep going back to games like Minecraft.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_00: It's not just about the mechanics, it's about the memories that are attached to them.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_00: The first server you build up with friends, the first home you built, the first time a creeper blows up your home, the mods that you put, and the time that you put in with friends is definitely.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_00: I know a lot of like the nostalgia behind video games are also very social moments, too.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_00: But there's also the music, the atmosphere, the first time you discovered something new in the game.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_00: Nostalgia isn't just remembering the past, it's reliving it, which isn't always the worst experience.
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_00: It's looking back fondly in those moments.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_00: And games are such a powerful tool of nostalgia.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_00: So why do we replay games over and over again?
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_00: My four reasons are the comfort they provide sometimes, the feeling of mastering a game, the different choices you can make in a game, and the nostalgic feeling that you can sometimes attach itself to a game.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_00: It's not just about the game, it's what the game gives you.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_00: So the next time you find yourself reinstalling the game that you've played 10 times over, ask yourself, what are you really going back for?
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_00: I know for me, especially in a nostalgic sense, Halo, the amount of times that especially Halo won.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_00: I remember going through the campaign for the first time, playing co-op with my uncle.
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_00: And the first time that I hung out with him and all of his friends brought over their Xboxes and hooked them up together, and we all played LAN multiplayer on the first Halo.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_00: Even Gears of War, the amount of times those 3 a.m.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_00: gaming sessions that I would play with friends and family, and the feeling of getting really good at these games is just amazing.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_00: The decision of playing for the light side in Knights of the Old Republic.
• 10:07
  SPEAKER_00: I'm sorry, every time I go back to Knights of the Old Republic, I can never bring myself to play the dark side, although the dark side does have some pretty cool powers.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for listening to this mini episode of Project Geekology.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_00: If you enjoyed this episode, share with a friend or someone who's definitely replayed the same game way too many times.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_00: And check our show notes and follow us on our various social media platforms.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_00: We are on X, we are on Instagram, we are also on YouTube if you don't know that.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_00: And I will catch you on the next one.