The Dark Side of Problem Solving in Video Games

When I booted up the notoriously difficult video game Bloodborne for the first time, I had a common experience which I believe was fully intended by the designers. I struggled past “the street,” an opening area filled with dogs and shambling riflemen and scythe-wielding creatures wearing top hats. It was frustrating but ultimately rewarding.

With a modicum of confidence, I proceeded onwards only to be repeatedly dismembered by hounds the size of horses. Through clever manipulation of a doorway through which their unholy girth could not fit, I bested them and continued onto a bridge.

Then from the sky fell an enormous, disfigured creature covered in blood and fur. I spent the next three hours dying to it until I no longer believed I could win.

And that is the moment most people stop playing Soulsborne games.

A Disregarded Solution

I was taking sword fighting lessons at the time and had to tear myself away from the screen to swing steel in real life.

I returned oxygenated and full of vigor and started a brand new character to play from the beginning. I quickly bested the trials which had previously drained my virtual and physical resources. I confronted the boss and beat it after a couple of attempts. From then on I was obsessed with this game.

One would think I had learned my lesson. Beating a Bloodborne boss in a negative, exhausted mental state is inefficient at best.

Alas, I had learned nothing.

How the Bad Habit Forms

As we engage in the process called “playing a video game” we practice:

• Problem solving
• Strategizing
• Experimentation
• Mental math
• Mechanical speed and precision
• Rapid task-switching (multitasking)

Most of us do this after a hard day’s work. We’re tired. This is our reward!

Let’s say I get stuck on a specific boss or area of the game. Will I quit playing to take a walk or do push ups, just so I can be more efficient in my recreation? Of course not. So I continue solving the problem in the same mental state that created it, unaware that I’m practicing vital work skills uncritically and inefficiently.

My Bloodborne misadventures continued when I encountered a yet more difficult boss during my self-imposed quest to earn a Platinum trophy. I clocked nearly one hundred attempts in a single sitting, with each attempt taking two to ten minutes. The fight required nearly perfect execution due to the confined space in which it took place. Learning the series of inputs required to beat the boss while tired and dejected was impossible.

I came back several days later and beat it after a few tries.

Why subject myself to this torture? Why waste hours in futile frustration?

Games put us in a problem solving loop where we never examine our meta-strategy for problem solving.

Maybe video games tap into our goal achievement and reward systems so perfectly that our body never considers an alternative to knuckleheaded persistence. I’ve had plenty of moments when I’m not enjoying myself in the slightest, but have chosen to try and beat the goal rather than walk away.

Wake Up Call and Solution

This is all in the realm of video games. Who cares how people play their games?

I didn’t until I recently found myself three hours into figuring out a Zapier workflow with no progress. I couldn’t seem to generate any new ideas. I even called a friend, to no avail. But I refused to give up!

Life called and I left the problem for later.

I came back the next day and within ten minutes found someone who had solved the problem I was facing. I easily implemented his solution.

Sound familiar?

I’ve learned to tell when I’m not operating efficiently. Some signs are:

• I struggle to hold multiple ideas in my head or get them onto paper
• I find myself repeating the same questions over and over
• My brain constantly auto-pilots and needs to be consciously refocused

Video games can be a catalyst for self-growth, and maybe even teach persistence. But single-player games in particular fail to hold you accountable for inefficient problem solving.

I don’t believe the solution is to treat video games as something that must only be solved while operating at our best. But I do believe we can become aware of habits that don’t serve us; habits that develop during gaming, and bleed into our work lives.

When you become aware that your performance is declining, don’t be like me working on that Zapier workflow!

Take a nap, a shower, or go for a walk. Work on a different problem. Reset your mental state and tackle the problem with a fresh mind.

Work smarter.