I have spent human money to mow lawns. I have spent hours driving trucks across Europe. I have tried and failed to maintain a farm. When not doing my actual jobs, I find myself power washing playgrounds and repairing computers. Even though my very real computer is in disarray and could use a full new install and/or be lit on fire, I still find myself repairing fake computers on it.
Now, before I go further, I want to make a disclaimer. Because if you don’t make this sort of disclaimer, people will be mad at you. And people being mad at me is one of my least favorite things as it usually ends with them being mean to me. Not a fan. Anyway, the disclaimer is this: I like job games. I wouldn’t buy so many if I didn’t. If you’re a fan of the genre, I’m not attacking you specifically or the things you enjoy.
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That said, what the fuck is wrong with me and these games?
I have actual jobs! Plural! Am I lucky to have them? Yes. Are they still emotionally and physically taxing? Yes! Yet, when I turn in my work for the day, I find myself loading up other jobs that don’t pay real money. And I’m not talking about games like Job Simulator in which it’s a fun parody of our capitalist work system. I take it real, and I take it slow.
And I do mean slow. These games’ missions feel like they go on forever. I spent forty five minutes power washing a fake yard. Do you know what I got at the end of that mission? A power washed fake yard. It took me time. I searched for grime. I marveled at a playset I cleaned for a family that only exists in my head.
These are jobs that actual people do. They’re real labor that workers perform in the heat and often under dangerous conditions. It almost seems ghoulish to take pleasure from spending money to pretend to do someone else’s hard job. It can feel as if I’m cosplaying the working class the same way I’m cosplaying a space soldier when I play Halo.
Yet… I love these games. I love learning things from them. It’s actually kinda great finding out about different types of tractor – and probably more useful than finding out about different types of rail gun. Although, I’m sure there will come a point when I’m talking to someone who actually does power washing and I sound like a complete idiot. Then again, I’d probably do the same talking about a rail gun or black magic.
Perhaps I love these games because they don’t always feel like games. Sure, they almost all have defined goals. And doing a virtual job itself isn’t a new gaming concept. My parents repeatedly asked me why I enjoyed SimFarm despite having no interest in the space known as outside. But in feeling disconnected from what I expect from a game, there’s something almost reassuring in this genre. I can quit a job, even a fake one. The world isn’t at stake and I’m not worried I’m missing an intense end-game story. Hell, I can ignore problems at my regular jobs by putting on a podcast and pretending to be someone else.
There is something a little weird about job games. It is a little weird to literally turn often low-paying labor into fun. But tuning out the world while mowing a lawn can be way more immersive than exploring a magic kingdom. Not everything has to be a high concept adventure. We can take a break from the mundane and focus on the mundane.
Rather than commit to a four hour raid in a fantasy setting, it’s sometimes nice to just add virtual graphic cards to virtual computers rendered by your real graphic cards on your real computer.
Next: I Love The Way Stardew Valley Progresses With Or Without Your Input
