Why do we play a game? It comes down to one of two things: to distract ourselves with a temporary amusement, or to level up your character and persevere (or grind-here the two have the same meaning, but very different connotations) until you complete all tasks set out before you.
Game design from the very early days of computer entertainment focused on the first aspect of playing a game. They were designed to sit in an arcade or a restaurant and provide a fun waste of time. This was partially thanks to the fact that the electronics necessary to create the early video games were costly. For a vastly oversimplified example, "Pong" ran on some resistors and a PIC, yet cost hundreds of dollars. The goals of a game had to be kept as simple and minimal as possible to maximize the power of available technologies as well as user enjoyment.
Modern game design has tended to move towards the second idea. Advances in processing made computers more powerful for less money. This allowed computers to become something more than room filling behemoths only available to universities, corporations, and the government. The affordability of computing power ushered in the age of the personal computer. Consequently, game consoles and other forms of computer entertainment also became more widespread. Advances in digital storage also made it possible for a user to save their input to a game, whether it be the rudimentary completion of challenges or gathering items, or more advanced "user created content," such as characters or even entire levels created by the user.
"Metagaming" is a recent trend that pokes fun at this second aspect of computer gaming. It can be seen as a sort of satire of what has become the central mantra of modern game design. So-called metagames provide no incentive for the user to finish the game other than to finish the game. How does one accomplish this? By completing every single task laid out before them, no matter how trivial, and receiving credit from the game for having done so. These sorts of games, while honestly fun and often well designed and programmed, poke fun at the notion that the only way to truly finish a game is to achieve 100% completion. Here is a list of three fine examples of metagames on Newgrounds.
18 Dec, 2008
Achievement Unlocked
One of the first "metagames," Newgrounds regular JMBT02 creates a game in which the only way to beat it is to unlock all achievements. He even conveniently recognizes the fact that his game is a metagame in the artist comments.
17 Jun 2009
Upgrade Complete
"Upgrade Complete," a game by The-EXP inspired by "Achievement Unlocked" becomes the first upgradable vertical shooter on Newgrounds where you can actually upgrade the "game." This includes graphics, game timer, save system, irritating music, and a mute button for that same music loop you just bought and got sick of but couldn't turn off because you had to do something to unlock the goddamned mute button.
25 November 2009
Level Up!
"Level Up!" becomes the first metagame to first, introduce a plot, and second, make metagaming integral to that plot. The layers of satire are appreciated by all, until it dawns upon some people that maybe because there is a plot to advance that "Level Up!" can no longer be consiered a metagame. These people are rounded up and put in forced labour camps.
Metagames are not only a fun take on my two essential goals of games, they also provide a commentary on the direction of game design. We call metagames satirical because they are a finite, series of goals to complete with no reward for completion other than having completed them (one could say that all computer-based, and even analog games, have no true reward and we play them to play them. To those people I say fuck you, get back to your metaphysics class and stop over complicating my diatribe). Yet, some of the most popular modern games-Oblivion IV, Guildwars, World of Warcraft-have basically the same design, but without being upfront about it. MMORPGs have been notorious for this since their inception, but there is a key difference to be noted: a true metagame has an end. If World of Warcraft is to be taken as an example for the direction games will go in the future, we may well find ourselves looking at a future where all our games are "neometagames," complete with an endless list of checkpoints and accomplishments to swallow our lives and transform a momentary entertainment into a lifetime.