There’s a reason why people like their video games to come with some grind
Photo: Courtesy of CD Projekt Red Among the pastimes I’ve acquired over the past few years, the most long-lasting has been video games I play on my Nintendo Switch, and I think I’ve finally figured out why. No matter the game’s subject matter, style, or story, my favorites all have one central element that feels deeply familiar: a never-ending stream of busywork and chores.
To better understand the appeal of virtual errand-running, I got in touch with Matthew Barr, a lecturer at the University of Glasgow’s school of computing science, who studies game-based skill development. First, he tells me, there’s a reason most big, popular video games have a chores-y component: They’re a cheap way to create content, allowing designers to tweak just a few variables to create dozens of tasks and story lines to put between a game’s central challenges.
The main reason people like their video games to come with some grind has to do with self-determination theory, says Barr. “One of the three basic human needs is a sense of autonomy, a sense that we’re able to control things,” he says. “[Grind] is repetitive, and chore-like, but at the same time, you’re able to check them off and say ‘I’ve done that.
This is not to say that grind is always a good thing; like so much else in life, it’s all about balance. Barr points to Destiny, a multi-person, first-person shooter released in 2014, as a good example of grind gone wrong, requiring players to do too much grind before they could advance.
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