The Online Game That Saved My Career.

A spectacular concept to disconnect after your creative journey.

1.- A new unexpected situation.

The world we used to know has changed very fast in recent decades and it is something that practically goes off the scale once we start to put our sights on technological advance. We have reached a point where news is no longer measured by semesters or quarters, but the evolution of both physical and digital media is measured by weeks.

We could therefore say that we have reached a transitional phase in the history of the human race that should be call for example something like

“The era of obligatory immediacy”

From the time we get up until we go to bed at night we have at our disposal a range of devices that make our lives comfortable, productive, efficient and, skipping some lines of debate, happier. Or that’s what we just think to avoid moral debate. This is simply a personal assessment and way of interpreting my life, but I think that everything that we repeat or maintain for a long period of time, if it is not in keeping with the nature of the human being, will cause us problems in the medium-long term.

What do I consider to be distant from human nature? Everything you couldn’t get if you were in a forest for a week. In this interpretation it is important not to have an absolutist look and to assess with a broad perspective that it is an adaptation and that it is a deterioration. For example, clothes, a refrigerator, going to a supermarket, etc. are adaptations to which we have given in so that life in new cities makes sense and is easier.

The conflict therefore arises when a concession that separates us from our “ideal nature” , such as the use of a SmartPhone to call your family, watch videos on YouTube or take a few photos of your friends becomes something obsessive

This phenomenon is something that has been very present in our society in recent months due to the presence of COVID-19 and the confinement of several months. Being such a new situation for the great immensity of all of us, it has been difficult for us to adapt and understand how to control-manage the situation in a healthy way for our emotional and psychological health. I do not want to rule out in any way that our physical health has also suffered some damage, but as the symptoms are more evident it is easier to be aware of how to maintain a proper balance.

However, when we deal with the mind and emotions, everything becomes much more complicated due to the subjective nature that we apply to it. Hours of stress, boredom, loneliness, and a myriad of diverse situations changed our priorities while profoundly changing our habits. Specifically our consumption habits.

The country stopped completely, so material consumption also did. No more afternoons of shopping, shipments from Amazon, Ali Express and countless hours rummaging through Primark, but surely from time to time you found yourself browsing the Internet in search of the perfect deal.

Yes?

Something about which there is no doubt is that we had a great number of hours to fill day after day, with the children at home and with the uncertainty of not knowing when normality would return to the streets.

2.- Creative response to the pandemic.

So what we did was take refuge in the virtual world. The real world was so limited that even if for some time we decided to enjoy ours, we threw ourselves to bake some cookies with the neighbor’s recipe or to build a bastion with the 182 rolls of paper that were left over at home, the virtual world became in a passage to happiness.

Throughout this process, a need was generated almost as quickly as the response that preceded it. We needed content, a lot of content and even more content. Honestly, I think it was precious how everyone moved to get close to that bubble and try to help as much as possible. It is true that many saw in it a vein to gain fame and various benefits, but hey you also have to be clear and understand that the smartest is the one who knows how to adapt.

Therefore, we focus on content. It was necessary to generate hours of content almost daily to maintain that euphoria in the channels, presence in the networks, liven up the hours in the WhatsApp groups and ultimately in all the other platforms. Personally, I think that on some occasion there was an impulse in the creative sector based more on obligation than on altruism.

3.- The mental conflict of some creatives.

What happens is that on a mental level some creative people who created that content were not prepared for such a drastic change in speed. Let me explain, due to this great demand, many ideas arose and many possibilities to cover, so wasting time was something inconceivable. You had to create create and create more than normal to take advantage of the wave, fill time and feel of benefit for a community that was not having a good time.

This brought with it the problem of not knowing how to manage time well and how to know what hours were for work, for fun, to disconnect and above all to maintain adequate mental hygiene. It took me several weeks to realize how everything had got out of hand and I knew that with this fast pace I could not keep my creative level in harmony with my life.

A solution had to be assessed, but what solution was the correct one? With strict confinement, going outside was practically out of the question. Exercising can fill an hour or even two at most, but the rest of the day is still empty. Many opted for the kitchen but for some reason I did not feel motivated to make elaborate recipes and since I did not have an oven, pastry and derivatives were not possible.

I needed to find something that would not make me think or have a current influx of information in my head since watching documentary after documentary or hooked on Netflix I felt like the information began to saturate me.

4.- The simplest answer is usually the correct one.

And what about video games?

It had been a long time since I considered playing anything due to the fact of being productive within the launch of my career as a Freelancer and on the other hand, more hours on a screen did not seem to be recommended. However, with the circumstances as they were, the priorities had changed, so I gave it a chance.

After so long without paying much attention to the market, I realized that I no longer had a clue about the titles beyond their names and some scenes that I saw on social networks, so I was quite lost. I had two things clear, it couldn’t be a very complex game because it would cause me the same saturation and at the same time my PC is design-oriented so most modern games have quite high requirements.

I came up with the idea of ​​searching for “Browser Games” or browser games. The concept of these games is that you don’t have to install anything but within a web page you can play for as long as you want and when you get tired, close and bye. Most of these games are strategy games, there are also many role-playing games and fantasy but there is a small drawer for “Indie” or independent games with concepts as elaborate as they are eccentric.

There was one that caught my attention. It looked like the classic Nokia 3310 mobile snake but with a new look. Its name is Slither, which in Spanish we translate as “sliding on a surface with oscillating movements”.

Once inside the game I realized that it was fantastic both for the simple graphics and for the game concept itself. Like the snake game, you are a small worm that has to eat balls to grow in size and expand. The funny point in all this is that you are playing online with other people who are trying to cross in front of your head to try to crash you and thus get to eliminate you to steal your points. Let’s say that obtaining orbs or balls from other adversaries is the fastest way to grow but also the most risky.

Thanks to such a simple concept but at the same time that it requires a fairly high concentration, I was able to find a small corner where I could disconnect and leave my mind away from the constant need to create.

The link to the PC game is here: Slither PC

The link of the game for Android is here: Slither PlayStore

The link of the game for Apple is here: Slither Apple Store

lthough I do not support in any way the tricks that may damage or worsen the experience of other users or the games, I can say that I have read about certain extensions and modifications in Google Chrome that make the experience of the game a bit more peaceful.

For example, you can zoom in to see a greater amount of the map and thus get rid of “unnecessary crossings” or if you prefer to simply play independently and chase orbs alone, you can activate the automatic pilot momentarily and thus avoid some frontal collisions.

I hope you enjoy this little game and that it helps you to disconnect in those moments when you need to be a bit in your personal bubble.

What other Casual Game do you know and play that could be helpful to share with others? I heard Doodle Jump is a great game too.

Have a lovely end of the week.