---
title: "I game for atmosphere"
subtitle: "Why I play games"
author: Seth Kenlon
publish_date: 2024-01-02 08:00
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hero_image: game-dice.webp
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taxonomy:
category: blog
tag: [ gaming ]
---
I've been pondering lately why I enjoy games, and what kinds of games I tend to gravitate to.
The more I thought about it, the more I found that it's probably ultimately an unsolvable riddle, but that in itself seems a little like a game.
Either the gamer or the technical part of my brain has taken the bait, and this post is about one aspect of gaming I enjoy.
This one's one of the more irrational aspects: atmosphere.
Whether I'm playing a tabletop game or a video game, the game's world and lore and visual appearance is a persuasive factor.
I'm a gamer who gladly surrenders to the illusion that playing a game is spending time in a storybook or a fantasy.
I don't seem to care whether the game world is a dystopian cyberpunk city, an idyllic dreamworld untouched by time, a steampunk factory, or a wartorn wasteland, just so long as it intrigues me.
If I enjoy spending time in the world, then I'm apt to play the game often.
Annoyingly, I can't always quantify or qualify what intrigues me.
Things I think I like sometimes fall flat, while things I never knew I liked somehow capture my imagination.
The post-apocalyptic wasteland is a pretty reliable trope for me, as are zombies, and yet both **Dying Light** and **Walking Dead** have never managed to appeal to me the way **Dead Island** and **Left 4 Dead 2** do.
Confusingly, I don't long for a tropical island setting in real life, but the strangely tranquil (aside from the zzombie infestation, I mean) Banoi of **Dead Island** never gets old.
## Pretending to like the world
I think the way I engage with games is strongly influenced by roleplay.
Whether or not I would like a setting in real life doesn't affect how my player character or avatar does.
In other words, I can real-life enjoy a game world by imagining I enjoy it.
And I do this for a variety of different reasons.
Sometimes, it's because the game mechanics are really good.
If I enjoy a game for how it plays, then I'm likely to grow some fondness for the game world.
That doesn't always compel me to come back to the game once I feel I've beaten it, but it keeps me invested while I'm working on it.
Other times, I like the game world despite the mechanics.
Maybe the game mechanics are just average.
Frankly, as much as I enjoy it, **Fallout the Board Game** probably qualifies here.
The game design is impressive and accurately mimics the complexity of the video games, but it's no **Blackstone Fortress**.
But [Fallout is a setting I love](
http://mixedsignals.ml/games/blog/culture_fallout-new-vegas), and the board game's atmosphere ensures that I continue to play it.
When atmosphere is missing altogether, I often find myself enjoying a game but not developing fond memories of the game after playing it.
There are some very good classic card games, like Texas Hold 'em and Blackjack, that I enjoy but don't "love" in part because there's no sense of immersion.
They're fun to play, I enjoy the time I spend playing, but I don't lovingly look back at the experience or agonize the time until the next game.
Of course there are exceptions to even this rule, if you can call Skip-Bo a classic card game.
But generally, the world and lore and atmosphere of a game is important, whether it's a thin veil over a set of great mechanics, or an integral part of what makes the game work.
## Lore master
Atmosphere is by no means all-powerful.
Like most people, I won't play an otherwise unbearable game just because it has atmosphere.
Like many a gamer, I've made purchases after judging a game by its cover art, and regretted it.
Paired with an entertaining game, though, atmosphere is an important component that
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