So it’s ironic that Bogost’s breakout hit—the game that has made him a celebrity within his industry, attracted tens of thousands of players, and even earned him a bit of money—is a cynical trifle he whipped up in a matter of days. It’s a Facebook game called CowClicker, and it’s unlike anything Bogost ever made before, a borderline-evil piece of work that was intended to embody the worst aspects of the modern gaming industry. He meant CowClicker to be a satire with a short shelf life. Instead, it enslaved him and many of its players for much of the past 18 months. Even Bogost can’t decide whether it represents his greatest success—or his most colossal failure.
I downloaded Plants vs. Zombies 2, and I can't help but feel the same way. There's virtually no skill involved. It's a level above FarmVille or the satire above, but it's designed to be just hard enough to where I need to have that psychological sensation of needing to complete something. If I'm willing to shell out $2.99, I can have a plant that lets me do that.
I'm gonna delete it today. I just convinced myself how flipping dumb it is to enslave myself on a popcorn game.
