The Video Game Revue

Gridgame.swf

I often check Reddit for cool links, and it's courtesy of them that I pass on today's Flash game du jour:

Gridgame

I've got a score of 1245 so far.

Whoop... I just obliterated that score. 1503 is the one to beat now. :)

Anyway, this kind of game raises an interesting question for me. While I imagine it to be possible to play this game skillfully, the easiest way to plug through it is just to try your luck and if it doesn't work out, hit the "reset" button. Once the thing starts running, there's nothing else you can do anyway; and the more you play on a single instance, the less reactive it becomes since the individual tiles tend to align themselves in matching blocks where turning one tile doesn't set off any of its neighbours. When I play, I generally just look for a tile somewhere in the middle of the screen that will set off two neighbours at once and blindly let the thing run.

So my question is this: since Gridgame is really only a game of chance that doesn't actually test my skill, why is it so much fun? I linked to Nanaca Crach a while back, and it's pretty much the same deal--mostly a test of luck rather than skill. Perhaps the fact that the game requires so little effort is part of the appeal?

I have no answers here, really. I just wanted to ask the question.

posted by Parappa @ 12:00 PM