think it’s safe to say there are few
inviolable elements in videogames.
It can often seem like anything
goes, as in the pure chaos of each
new world, players are tried, duped,
terrified, and thoroughly tested—we
play games, and they play us right
back. It could be weeping as you
repeatedly stomp an already dead
jump-scare Necromorph, worrying
about your heart rate as you face
off against Ornstein and Smough
yet again, or watching, transfixed,
as the causality of your in-game
decisions is brought to bear in the
most tortuous manner possible.
Games take their toll, whether
through intensity, horror, emotion,
or simply sheer visual noise. Enter
safe rooms, the wonderful answer
to the question, “How do we get
players to take breaks if they won’t
stop playing the game?”
FEATURE