Like many middle-schoolers, I had a tab of “Agar.io” tucked in my browser during my computer class for the fleeting moments when I could sneak in a game without being caught. The browser-based game ran on one simple mechanic: The player’s goal was to float around in a gridded arena, gaining as much mass as possible on their virtual “cell” by consuming other players. In 2015, game developer Matheus Valadares released “Agar.io” in a 4chan post. However, as the use of bots (AI-controlled players) in place of players in some online multiplayer games mimics the authentic multiplayer experience, the definition of “multiplayer” accelerates toward something more ambiguous. Without the sacred experience of multiplayer games, the video game industry would be smaller and much quieter. There is also a more hostile way to shame or taunt players who perform poorly: Five minutes in an online Call of Duty lobby will leave impressionable players deeply insulted, assuming that they aren’t the ones doing the insulting. In multiplayer games, there is the glory that comes with winning a competition against real players. Every competing player is another person to beat before winning more importantly, any player could be laughing at your defeat on the other side of the screen. Multiplayer games take the stakes of single-player challenges and amplify them tenfold. As we are pitted up against the programming and game design, the battle to achieve an ego-fueled, highly incentivized goal ensues. Games challenging a player’s agility, cleverness and coordination drive the player to become “skilled” enough to advance. Most, if not all, single-player games have mastered the art of motivating a player to improve. On some occasions, the perceived difficulty of a Mario level would bother me for hours, even days, prompting me to shame myself into trying again until I won. The alternative to this success is an all-too-familiar frustration that settles deep in the core.
Repeating the same stage in “Mario Maker” can stir up a deep, bubbling rage in me, but the springy, congratulatory tune at the long-awaited end of the level transforms any traces of anger into euphoric satisfaction.
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