My Week in Games

I spend most of this post comparing a week I had to video games I’ve played. Trust me, it’s not as boring as it sounds. I left out all the boring bits and replaced them with bacon. Savour every word.

1. Plan

Fun and success don’t always happen at random. You have to have plan goals, make outlines and revise your expectations. Then things might work out.

I plan many important things during my week. I’ve got to stay on budget, buy food, and cook delicious dinners. Then I have to work and plan to take over the world. Oh, uh that last one was a joke.

You also have to plan for success in Civilization. You need a strategy to beat the game or take over the civilized world. There’s some luck involved too.

However, there are some differences between my life and Civilization. Even though I save my money, I likely won’t beat all other countries to an economic victory.

2. Learn

I love to read. Maybe I’ll turn on some music while I read. Maybe I’ll have a nice snifter of something to feel special.

The Sims’ world is not always this peaceful when a character reads. Other people could run around your house while they are on fire. Or a burglar could rob if you don’t have the latest alarm installed.

But The Sims has one awesome feature: you can speed read and learn fast. Imagine if could sit down and hit fast forward while you read. You’d flip through pages faster than an open book in a wind tunnel. This ability to learn fast could advance my career. Then a mysterious car could pick me up for work, just like The Sims. Oh wait! That last part doesn’t sound very safe or fun.

3. Cook

I love to cook. It is peaceful, creative and always leaves my stomach happy. When the food turns out right, it is definitely a weekly highlight for me. I wouldn’t say I’m a gourmet. I like to cook and hope for the best – with my fingers crossed.

Cooking Mama is a game that probably captures my love of good food done right. I say probably because I’ve never played it. Also, unlike “mama,” I don’t have a pink beret type thing in my hair.

4. Drenched

This past summer, when I wrote this post, some bad storms drenched me. I sloshed through soaked streets as my shoes made squishy sounds. The storms all started with a Heavy Rain. In one bad storm, some major roads in my city looked like an Endless Ocean.

5. Exercise

I find stress melts away when I ride my bike, run, and play frisbee. But I never played any games based on these activities. I have played a few sports games but don’t make time for them these days.

Maybe International Soccer Superstar 64, my sole sports game for N64, best describes my exercise regimen. I used to play it with a friend in elementary school. Whenever he scored against me, he would sometimes jump off the couch and run around the room and scream, “Baggio, Baggio, Baggioooo!” Strange. He’d do this even when he scored without Baggio. And, yes, he was one of the “popular” kids. On second thought, this was more a silly anecdote than a game that describes my weekly exercise regimen.

As a teenager, I used to mountain bike with friends. Maybe Downhill Domination, a mountain biking game I played on PS2, describes my exercise regimen. Of course it does. I used to land 30 foot drops on my bike with ease, pick fights and collect glowing orbs while cycling. Ok, looks like I can’t describe exercise well with games.

6. Garden

I love to grow vegetables and herbs. When I wrote this post, I was already eating the fruits of my garden. If I couldn’t grow vegetables outside, I could always plant digital greens in Animal Crossing. But I prefer the real thing to digital counterparts any day.

7. Misc.

Boring administrative tasks and other things also fill my week. I think The Sims captures these chores quite well and managed to make them fun. I can’t say chores are fun in my life.

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How do the video games you play compare with your life? Do the two mirror each other at all?