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There is nothing like the awe that is inspired upon entering for the first time into a vast new virtual world. The appeal that these games create is unique to them; their appeal is hardly found anywhere else. This is where a player is tempted to settle in and explore until sunlight enters their window. So much is transmitted in an instant – the sounds of a serene forest, perhaps, or the hum of wildlife combine with a relatively minimalist interface to give a sense of weightlessness and the urge to travel. These are the favorite memories of many users, and they can be preserved at the very beginning of an adventure.

Games like Minecraft, Stardew Valley, and Guild Wars 2 have proven paradigmatic in my personal experience. Each expertly offers such a sense of scale, albeit doing so with remarkably different methods. Minecraft offers its sense of scale primarily from the literal size of its map; it’s procedurally generated, so in theory a player can walk in one direction indefinitely and encounter interesting structures and events along the way.

Stardew Valley maps, however, are much smaller and more traditional. Rather than bragging about a theoretically endless playing area, it focuses very deeply on the refinement of the limited space it presents. Here a player is able to go further than far, because his attention to detail is truly remarkable. Finally, Guild Wars 2 finds common ground between Minecraft and Stardew Valley. As this is a massively multiplayer online game, it is still able to offer large card sizes, but it is also able to group these cards together with a considerable amount of detail so that each game can be seen. assign a unique identity and characteristics that make them more distinct. than Minecraft biomes.

It should be surprising how these three games are able to achieve a similar effect even though they are considered to be from different genres. But what should be noted is that while the instant gameplay is different, they are quite the same spiritually. This is due to at least three reasons: their structures encourage exploration; their meetings are relatively easy to prepare; and the stakes are low.

These three factors are crucial in understanding how Minecraft, Stardew Valley, and Guild Wars 2 differ from other games like the Dark Souls series which also encourage exploration. While this first condition is met in Dark Souls, the last two are not – the first time someone plays a Dark Souls game will be intense as they will lose a lot of progress when they die, and the game contains some great progress. countless deadly surprises that punish him. mechanics gain much more common experience. To understand why the quiet games I mentioned meet these three criteria so well, you have to understand the fundamentals of each game in relation to them.

Minecraft, for starters, it is quite easy for a semi-experienced player to manage his risk, and his encounters are usually early. After any player’s first night, they understand that monsters can be scary and they need to find shelter, but also, that this threat is mitigated by a bed and a chest. Whenever the player dies, they drop all of their items and respawn where their bed is placed. By keeping their precious resources close to where they place their bed, a smart player is able to ensure they have the equipment to recover their lost goods and experience points.

Plus, the way Minecraft encourages exploration makes it easy to avoid monsters. When mining resources, for example, making sure the area is lit and looking for enemies is pretty much security. Even if a monster or two slips through the cracks, their damage is limited against armor and a shield used skillfully. As such, Minecraft meets the previous three standards and therefore can be played quietly.

Stardew Valley is different in that combat isn’t necessarily a key part of the gameplay. The player can choose how he wants to earn money; one possibility is to fight in dungeons, where enemies can get quite strong the further you go. Obviously, if an individual wanted to play Stardew Valley more quietly, their choice would be to earn money by farming or fishing. These methods are very calming and can’t go too badly – in the worst case, you miss a fish or have the crows eat a few crops.

Even if one wants to venture into a dungeon, death is not possible. On the contrary, if the player’s health reserve is depleted, he will pass out and lose some change. The only penalty other than that is that an item is lost at random, but that too can be redeemed. Additionally, exploring Stardew Valley is all about witnessing the events of the city and developing relationships with its dynamic characters, which is inherently less painful than other modes of exploration. Because the stakes are generally low, and the riskiest activity saves your progress with a little change, Stardew Valley also meets all three standards.

Guild Wars 2 is probably the most punishing of the three games. Dying in the open world doesn’t cause a player to lose experience, but it usually forces them to go back and start the quest they failed over again. This is combined with the fact that enemies in certain sections of Guild Wars 2, especially in higher level areas, are much more threatening to a novice player than in Stardew Valley or Minecraft.

The punishment here is not the loss of physical resources, but rather the waste of time – dying over and over again can be extremely annoying as some quests are needed to advance the main story and can take a while. It’s also easy to mess up your build, as Guild Wars 2 offers so many systems and choices for an individual to customize their kit. With this freedom comes non-linearity, and with this non-linearity often comes confusion.

While it can be difficult to tell if you’ve built your character correctly, the reason Guild Wars 2 manages to be quiet is that it effectively telegraphs dangerous and non-threatening areas. Anyone can say that the ruins of Orr are not a friendly place due to the constant fighting visible even on the map. With this knowledge, these places can be avoided and the tranquil experience preserved.

Soothing and peaceful play is extremely important considering how difficult most of our lives have been lately. For me, there’s nothing quite like playing Minecraft after being tilted from the face of the Earth in League of Legends or after a tough day at school. Hearing the excellent sound design and experiencing all that a world has to offer is cathartic and, in many ways, akin to therapy. Understanding why these games are able to capture this relaxing essence is important; this helps us to know exactly the mechanisms that engage beneath their surfaces, allowing us to replicate their magic in other arts if we wish. In a world of such confusion, it is heartwarming to be able to take a step back and dissolve into something quiet, if only for a moment.