Today’s Daily Grind was inspired by Roger over at Contains Moderate Peril, who penned a fun piece on minigames a few weeks back. Oh, did I say fun? I meant grumpy. But justifiably grumpy, in my opinion. He begins by pointing out that most MMO minigamers are harmless and even fun. But…
“Then there’s a third type of minigame. One that is mandatory and integral to moving forward within the confines of the game. It acts as a gatekeeper and blocks further progression until it is completed. Minigames of this nature are universally reviled and are often an anathema to gamers. Furthermore they’re often considered ‘lazy game making’. If the player cannot complete the minigame in question then they may as well uninstall the game that they’re playing as they cannot progress any further.”
Nobody likes these types. I’d add to the pile the grindy minigames that you must complete ad nauseam for some arbitrary reason. I’ve spent an inordinate amount of time this year doing the SWG Legends Meatlump themepark grind, which is basically several puzzler minigames (unscrambles, code unlocks, color guessers) over and over and over, just to unlock some crafting recipes. Along the way, I met some folks doing it so they could have a house with windows. Nobody was actually having any fun. So why was it there?
What’s the worst type of minigame in MMOs?
Every morning, the Massively Overpowered writers team up with mascot Mo to ask MMORPG players pointed questions about the massively multiplayer online roleplaying genre. Grab a mug of your preferred beverage and take a stab at answering the question posed in today’s Daily Grind!
