Kongregate sucks/rocks

Ok, this is a pretty geeky image to post, but I had to capture the moment when I saw it. I've been somewhat addicted to Kongregate the last couple of months, as it suits my needs to play games, is free, and allows quick play of 15 minutes or so that I have spare in the evenings. Like an RPG it totally appeals to the collector part of my brain, encouraging me to play just a little more to acquire the badge and points, even through bad games.

I used to have a completionist OCD, where I had to finish any book I opened, and game I played, or any movie I began watching regardless of how terrible it was. Maybe this was due to thriftiness in my family genes--i.e. I payed good money for it, I had better use it to its fullest. Whatever the cause I've been able to fight it back in recent years, and proudly have a stack of unfinished books and games (unfortunately this trait never seemed to translate to useful projects, so that stack remains sadly untouched).

Web games are perfect in the sense that they are low cost entry and can be left at any time if they suck. Kongregate plays on my weakness, though. One the one hand, I can't complain, because Kongregate rocks at giving me that fix, provides a damn good service (for free!), and most of the games are pretty good. On the other hand, it preys on that weakness in the same sense that many RPG/MMORPGs do, with the dreaded treadmill--forcing you to perform mundane tasks to level up, grinding away at mediocre games for way too long.

This isn't Kongregate's fault, but it is a chance to rant at those RPGs. I've long believed that a much better strategy for a truly broad audience would be to forgo the accretion strategy and come up with an engaging concept that would allow anyone to join in for a few minutes of play without having to worry about spending a ton of time levelling up or getting killed by those who have disproportionately more time or money.

Some online games have done better in this regard. Puzzle Pirates, for example, although that's largely derivative causal games mashed together, with little social interaction in the core gamely. There's a ton of room for improvement. I predict the first game to do this right will blow World of Warcraft's numbers out of the water. I'm waiting, people, get on it! (I know I won't--it's one of those unfinished projects on my pile...)

UPDATE: Another potentially negative aspect of grinding: gold farming. Bruce: "Possibly there is evidence here that game design need looking at."