this post was submitted on 14 Apr 2026
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Hot Take: most modern games are designed to purely kill time (lemmy.world)
submitted 6 hours ago by 64bithero@lemmy.world to c/games@lemmy.world
43 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

I’m sure some of you will want to reply to this post and say “don’t you really mean single player games are dying ?” While that’s partially true I think there is more to it than that.

Games use to made with world building in mind. Characters , stories arcs maybe in some cases a message to share. Games did this with a combination of a story and a single player campaign to get you acquainted and a multiplayer component to keep you coming back. Yes in many cases multiplayer was just tacked on but in many cases it added value and further established world building. In the end you’ve at least experienced a cool story.

To me these days most games are made in service of a battle pass or an excuse to release a permanent “early access game”

Oh look a new battle royal survivor game with the unique twist of combining other games mechanics into one. You can play with your friends ! You can farm things and make things ! Does making these things really move any needle in any significant way? Does the farming open up new locations and enemies to fight ? Or better yet special story moments ? Most of The time nope. And the worst of times you just get a shiny new hat!

I see little value in investing time into another game when I can see bar move another 3 percent. I understand there a social aspects but I’d argue the games do little for them and those social aspects can be had without the game to begin with. Or everyone playing their own game. To me all you’re doing is killing time with yet another run of the mill game.

I’d like to see a resurgence of games made with a singular intent and purpose. In service of telling a story and building a world. And seeing profits come in from there. No battle pass no service …

No nothing was ever perfect and there was always junk games. To me now it just feels like it’s getting worse.

Any way I’ll go back into my retirement home now and stop yelling at that cloud…

top 43 comments
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[–] Ok_imagination@lemmy.world 2 points 56 minutes ago (1 children)

Hot take: This post belongs in unpopular opinion. While I don't agree. You're entitled to your opinion. If you're enjoying spent time I don't think it's wasted. If you enjoy sitting for hours waiting for fish, even though I think it's a waste of time, it's time well spent for the one spending it.

[–] OriginEnergySux@lemmy.world 1 points 21 minutes ago

This sums it up perfectly. No point arguing about the objectivity of something that is subjective

[–] LifeLikeLady@lemmy.world 4 points 1 hour ago

Hotter take. ALL games are designed to waste time.

[–] dogslayeggs@lemmy.world 10 points 2 hours ago

1970s: Space Invaders comes out with deep, story-driven world building

1980s: Super Mario Bros comes out with deep, story-driven world building

1990s: Mortal Kombat comes out with deep, story-driven world building

2000s: Counterstrike comes out with deep, story-driven world building

2010s: Minecraft comes out with deep, story-driven world building (this one is funny because you dig deep and build worlds)

2020s: There are no good games that really build a world with a good story! Definitely not Elden Ring, BG3, Ghosts of Tsushima, DOS2, Clair Obscura, etc....

[–] demonsword@lemmy.world 7 points 2 hours ago (1 children)

Games use to made with world building in mind. Characters , stories arcs maybe in some cases a message to share.

My first videogame console was an Atari 2600, there wasn't even a single thing of your list in any game there

[–] 64bithero@lemmy.world 0 points 2 hours ago (1 children)

Do you still play those games? A lot?

[–] demonsword@lemmy.world 1 points 13 minutes ago

No, very sporadically, then the nostalgia hits me hard enough. I was just ponting that maybe your nostalgia is kinda skewing your viewpoint too.

[–] nyctre@piefed.social 19 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

Kingdom come deliverance 2, clair obscur, silksong, split fiction, citizen sleeper 2, ball x pit, blue prince, dispatch, hades 2, silent hill f, escape from duckov, outer worlds 2...

And that's only last year and only the games I've played. I don't have the time or the energy to try all the games that I want to... But sure, focus only on the bad stuff..

[–] 64bithero@lemmy.world -5 points 3 hours ago* (last edited 3 hours ago) (3 children)

I am not saying there aren’t any good games. My argument is there are fewer and fewer year in and year out. Especially at high production levels.

For every 4 decent games I find 500 absolute rubbish. Not to mention the high profile games that had their servers up for a month or less. can’t say I’ve heard that often in my life time.

Sure you can point out to 4 games and claim victory and piss on my grave. But from perspective you’re missing the point…

[–] missingno@fedia.io 3 points 2 hours ago

My argument is there are fewer and fewer year in and year out.

When there are far more games being made in the first place, good and bad, I do not think you are correct at all. There are still tons of great games coming out, but you don't seem to want to look for them as you've already shot down previous comments bringing up critically acclaimed modern hits.

I think nostalgia has you remembering the best games of the past, forgetting about all the slop that used to come out back then too, and losing perspective of the actual time scale in between those hits. If you compare the very best games from a full decade to just the average game that came out last year, that comparison will be very misleading.

[–] athatet@lemmy.zip 5 points 2 hours ago

Every medium is going to have more bad than good. That’s just how shit works.

[–] nyctre@piefed.social 2 points 2 hours ago* (last edited 2 hours ago)

Yes, ofc there's lots of rubbish, it's easy to make games. There's tons of shit music. There's tons of shit paintings, there's tons of shit in every type of art. But there's also more good stuff than ever before. And the previous stuff hasn't gone away either, it's just more and more. You can't possibly enjoy all the good art that's out there. Are you sure you still enjoy video games? Maybe that's the issue...

Look up the year 2005 or whatever. Tell me how many you've played and how many you've enjoyed from that year. Some years are better than others especially if you have very particular tastes, but there's no way there were more good games before than now.

Most of the games I've mentioned had budgets in the millions, but here's some more big budget games from last year that were well received:

Mario kart world

ghost of yotei

ninja Gaiden 4

south of midnight

arc raiders

Death stranding 2

donkey Kong bananza

stellar blade

Elden ring: nightreign

metal gear solid delta

Dying light: the beast

And that's only a few that come up in a quick search. I'm not trying to piss on your grave.. but just because EA, Ubisoft and Activision aren't making good games anymore doesn't mean others aren't.

[–] missingno@fedia.io 3 points 2 hours ago (1 children)

How do you feel about the narrative and worldbuilding in Space Invaders, Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, etc?

[–] 64bithero@lemmy.world -2 points 2 hours ago (1 children)

Donkey Kong was one of the first games that had a story in arcades … was it complex ? No. But it was a draw for people ..

[–] missingno@fedia.io 4 points 2 hours ago

If that's enough of a narrative for you, most of the games you're complaining about also have narratives with at least that much depth to them.

[–] magnue@lemmy.world 10 points 4 hours ago

Is every leisure activity not just wasting time if viewed through this lens?

[–] Zahille7@lemmy.world 2 points 2 hours ago

You could also take it a step further and say "all games are just tech demos"

Like all they exist to do is proof-of-concept type stuff showing off what people can do, instead of making a piece of entertainment for the people.

[–] Flamekebab@piefed.social 11 points 4 hours ago

A great many of the games I grew up with were descended from coin-op design principles and so were designed to delay progress as much as possible.

[–] Poopfeast420@lemmy.zip 31 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

So true! Remember the good old days with games like Expedition 33, Baldur's Gate 3, Resident Evil 9? Those were the best. It's a pity games like that don't get made anymore.

WTF are you talking about.

[–] ampersandrew@lemmy.world 23 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

They are not "most games". They might be most games you're aware of, because those games spend the most money on marketing. The type of game you want is downright abundant, and even some of the games you're ranting about have more substance than you give them credit for, though they may not be your cup of tea.

From last year, check out Split Fiction, The Alters, Kingdom Come: Deliverance II (it has a season pass, but you can take it or leave it), Dispatch, or Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. From this year, I can recommend Escape from Ever After first-hand, and I've got plenty on my radar that I hear good things about.

[–] 64bithero@lemmy.world -5 points 3 hours ago (2 children)

4 good games doesn’t make up for 500 other absolute trash ones.

I did say it was a hot take didn’t I ?

[–] ampersandrew@lemmy.world 11 points 3 hours ago

You're not playing 500 games per year. Realistically, you're playing a dozen or so if you're a real enthusiast. Focus on the ones you like, support them with your time and money, and the market makes more of them. There are so many good games coming out in a year that I can't keep up with them; I've got a spreadsheet and something resembling an Agile planning methodology to get through them more efficiently, and I still don't have a chance of playing everything that looks good. Hardly any of those have any microtransactions (I definitely don't buy them in the ones that do), and none of them waste my time.

[–] Prove_your_argument@piefed.social 6 points 2 hours ago* (last edited 2 hours ago)

There’s something like 5000 releases on steam a year, mostly indie

Of course most are trash. It’s literally anybody and their mom releasing.

There’s also more amazing games coming out per year than ever. We’ve been in a golden age of releases for a few years now. Feels better than the 90s and early 00s.

[–] Auster@thebrainbin.org 6 points 4 hours ago

Indies still seem to tackle such.

Major games, at least by production value or how much they could spend on ads, are usually bland, and/or if carrying a message, it's dubious at best.

Meanwhile, indies are more free to do what they want, instead of having to follow orders of someone pushing an agenda or that just cares for profit based on brand.

If you'd be willing to sift through, you can find way too many good titles on places like Steam, GOG, and in a surprising quantity even on Itchio, plus other places, sure.

[–] nous@programming.dev 20 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

I mean all entertainment is really there to kill time. Thats really the main point of having fun. I would say things are worse then that. They (at least tripple-A games) are designed to extract as much cash as they can and get you addicted.

[–] mika_mika@lemmy.world 8 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

There was a time where it seemed AAA game developers and publishers released games that attempted to extract cash from the population by releasing a game that was such a quality experience that people will pay for it.

Oh well.

[–] INeedMana@piefed.zip 3 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

You know where there term "AAA" comes from, right?

Games used to be a niche - made by gamers for gamers. Now it's gotten more mainstream so we have more industry around it. Good games aren't gone, just don't get advertised, same as everything else that is worthwhile

As for social aspects of the games, I don't agree with your take. We don't have time to be hanging out in pubs every weekend anymore. Hopping in VC to do some "base building" requires less scheduling

[–] ampersandrew@lemmy.world 5 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

There's a lot more to what destroyed hanging out in the pub than scheduling, but yes, the games themselves have a lot of value in the socializing part of the equation.

[–] INeedMana@piefed.zip 1 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

There’s a lot more to what destroyed hanging out in the pub than scheduling

For sure but even if you switch out computer games to board games, that is still not the same. People moved, a lot of games need space and hauling the box, etc

In school we used to have breaks, we were hanging out just because of that. Now most often we don't even work together anymore. Unless one has a job that forces them to come to the office or is one of that ~1% of the workforce that prefers to, and can have a chat at the water stand, I think for many people the reality is that if not for online games, they wouldn't hang out with anyone anymore

[–] ampersandrew@lemmy.world 6 points 4 hours ago

I mean, funny enough, I head to a pub to play board games every other week, including tonight. I was more referring to suburbia and sprawl destroying "third places", as well as younger folks' tendency to drink less. It's possible that online gaming expanded our ability to choose our social circle more than simple geography used to dictate.

[–] HubertManne@piefed.social 7 points 5 hours ago

most entertainment is about killing time. Some really great stuff has come out in recent time. I think the problem is more stuff overall with about the same amount of good stuff.

[–] CompactFlax@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 5 hours ago

I think you’re right. The pure percentage of shovelware that is just designed to show ads, collect revenue, and suck time is higher than ever before. There’s less money in blockbuster games from major studios, too - I think - and they’re trying to sell subscriptions and loot boxes.

[–] JayleneSlide@lemmy.world 1 points 5 hours ago (2 children)

At PAX 2017, I was disappointed by the overwhelming number of battle royale games. There were a handful of games that stood out for story or in-person party play, but the biggest booths were all for MMOs and battle royale games.

I've long said that MMO games are so common because storytelling and world-building are hard. Also, Sturgeon's Law: 90% of everything is shit.

I'm guessing the downvotes are because people fail to see or deliberately ignore the generalization. Of course there are stellar story-driven, single player games still coming out, but 90% shit is to be expected.

My only shred of disagreement here (more of a qualification) is time-wasting. Of course games are for sucking down time. It's one of the circuses in "Bread and Circuses." But the same applies to novels, hobbies, and lush green lawns. :D

Another qualification I'll add: I think we're just getting more of everything with better coverage and more ubiquitous advertising, so it's easier to see the shit games. It's easier than ever to build a game, so of course the tide of garbage rises. But so do the standouts, unfortunately in roughly equal proportions. :D There have some great story-driven games recently as one other commenter noted. For me, "The Expanse," "Cyberpunk," and "Become Human" leap to mind (yes, I'm a very late adopter). Two of those are basically visual novels with choices, but the stories hit hard and get into complex moral and social issues.

When you're ready, I'll be out on the retirement home patio with a cold one waitin' for ya. We'll gripe about it some more.

[–] HarkMahlberg@kbin.earth 4 points 3 hours ago (2 children)

Sorry to get all "ok grandpa time for your meds" on you, but 2017 was 9 years ago. A whole decade has passed in the industry and the art form. XD

[–] JayleneSlide@lemmy.world 1 points 54 minutes ago

So, you can't see the woods for the trees. You honed in on the anecdotal example of industry trend, but didn't refute the trend.

[–] 64bithero@lemmy.world 2 points 2 hours ago (1 children)

It’s also been 50 years since the first home console came out. Your point ?

[–] HarkMahlberg@kbin.earth 2 points 2 hours ago

I'm just pulling the leg of the guy above me. Granted, at their expense, but we're both "on the retirement home patio" so to speak.

[–] 64bithero@lemmy.world -2 points 3 hours ago

I’m glad a few people are willing to see through specifics and look at the outright trends. And you are right algorithms and current social media make certain things more apparent then others.

But my general point still stands, it feels like there is more garbage than there has ever been before.

As for the wasting time, I see people are taking this too literally. I’m taking about (subjective) worth for putting time and money into a game. I feel like the ratio of value to time in modern games has drastically gone out of balance at least for me personally.