Games Are Just Fun

[Nouw]

For a single player game in recent years it'd be Hotline Miami although I have poured more hours into other games in the past such as Dawn of War: Dark Crusade. It's just that whenever I think of a fun single player experience, the first game that comes to mind is Hotline Miami.

For a multiplayer game it'd be a toss up between the various Halo's I've played and Left 4 Dead. Co-op gaming with friends doesn't get any better than those two but an honourable mention is given to Castle Crashers for being one of the few games I've completed over and over again.

These answers are based purely on the idea of 'fun.' I don't have a 'best game ever' but if I did I'd have to consider titles where fun perhaps wasn't the driving force in playing it.

 

[geK0]

Tough call

I'd have to say Warcraft 3; but that's mostly because it was the first competitive game I played and the only game I really got into the modding scene for.

My favourite games to play just for the lulz with friends though are any of the Super Smash Brothers, Mario Kart and Mario party games.

 

[geK0]

Tough call

I'd have to say Warcraft 3; but that's mostly because it was the first competitive game I played and the only game I really got into the modding scene for.

My favourite games to play just for the lulz with friends though are any of the Super Smash Brothers, Mario Kart and Mario party games.

Edit: That's two double posts in a row...... might be something to do with that rules page it keeps redirecting me to

 

[CannibalCorpses]

Hrmmm...difficult question. I've been finding myself enjoying games less and less over the years but the one that stands out in my mind is Orcs must die. Not an all time favourite but definately good fun. It took me lots of attempts to master it enough to fully upgrade everything, plenty more to do it again on the hardest setting and then managed to inspire me enough to go for the top ten tables. I even bought the DLC for it which is rare as rocking horse shit for me.

As far as multiplayer games go i can really only vouch for Red dead redemption. Nothing amuses me more than having someone start shit with me and then quit after i kill them over and over again. It's even more amusing when i get a bitching message about how i'm gay afterwards...makes it all worthwhile. Response: Perfect life lesson...don't fuck with strangers lol.

 

[CannibalCorpses]

(double post) I blame the 'i agree' page of nonsense it forced me to endure.

 

[CannibalCorpses]

I don't know if they're "just" for fun but they should at least be fun.

That's a narrow way of looking at it. How do you define fun? Do you mean that a game should be fun, or that you should have fun playing it? What about satisfaction, emotion, excitement, horror, empathy, sadness, enlightenment, and all those feelings that can be positive in the right light? Like guilt, despair, and the build-up brought on by difficulty. What about the release experienced through the contrast of one negative feeling designed to emphasize the later positive one? What about relaxation? Melancholy? Nostalgia? Curiosity, experimentation, discovery?

Speaking generally now: "Games are just fun" is an opinion that is wrooooooooong. The stubborn refusal of people to perceive games as anything else but vessels for instant gratification is the cancer that is keeping us from having nice things.

Game I had the most fun playing - can't rightly say. There's a whole lot of'em. And how do you define fun? Maybe it's the feeling of discovery and experimentation, like Baldur's Gate 2. Maybe it's the moment-to-moment gratification, like Red Alert 2. Or maybe it's just the satisfaction of beating a challenge, like Dark Souls. Or perhaps the joy of choice and immersion, like Deus Ex. The fun of working towards a goal, like Diablo 2?

Yeah, I can go on. But you get the idea. "fun" is a narrow-ass term.

Why do you require someone elses definition of fun to make a decision? Fun is subjective and nobody is going to say 'no you didn't' if you say you enjoyed something.

 

[TheMadDoctorsCat]

Hmmmmm that's a tough one because I don't necessarily play games *just* because they're fun. For example, my favorite games are the "System Shock" games, and I spent much of my time with them in pants-wetting terror. SATISFYING, yes, but not exactly what I'd term as "fun".

Thinking over some other favorites of mine... "Jungle Strike" and "Warcraft 2" for example, are very tactical. The difficulty is all about deciding how best to build a base and how to approach an encounter with an enemy. Again, satisfying but not exactly fun.

And while I love "Skyrim" (despite the flaws that it obviously has), I can't honestly say that it's a fun time. Again, the appeal for me is more the strategic one - deciding what upgrades to get, how to approach encounters, etc. I'm a planner by nature. A helluva lot of my time in Skyrim has been spent grinding for enchantment and potion-making skills as well, which isn't exactly what you'd call fun either.

The only competitive multiplayer game I've ever played for any length of time is "TF2" (and only that because it came in the Orange Box with "Half-Life 2" and "Portal"), and I'm not very good at it. I find it more frustrating than fun - I couldn't get to the level that most other people were at, which was pretty basic - and I didn't like the community. So a good game but not fun for me.

And even with a brawler like "Bastion", the chief satisfaction for me isn't the story, or the brawling itself, or any visceral primeval instinct that means I enjoy just turning my brain off and going on a rampage. It's testing out all different combinations of weapons, spirits, idols, etc.

Y'know, this is really weird. I don't think I play games because they're fun.

I play them because I want a mental challenge, I want to be immersed into a world, I want to make choices within that world that have huge consequences. The greatest satisfaction a videogame can give me is when I execute a plan and see the results exceed what I was hoping for.

Which leads me to a strange conclusion. The game I've had the most FUN with - pure fun - is one I haven't played for very long, and only with friends. I don't even own the console that it's played on. It is, of course...

..."Wii Bowling". No, I didn't see that one coming either.

 

[TheMadDoctorsCat]

Why do you require someone elses definition of fun to make a decision? Fun is subjective and nobody is going to say 'no you didn't' if you say you enjoyed something.

I don't. I just think the question is too vague to answer accurately.

I think that's the point... what's "fun" is completely subjective to you. What the OP is looking for here is examples of what that may be.

EDIT: which obviously you've given in your previous post... not that that invalidates the question that was put.

 

[Guffe]

Of all time!!!??!?!?!!

You are crazy my friend
And it's not because of the choice of game.

OF ALL TIME?!?!!
I couldn't choose that
I've been playing too much, for too long, to be able to make that decision, had too many good times

 

[BarbaricGoose]

Metal Gear Solid 4, or GTA V.

I remember playing through MGS4 a ridiculous number of times. Thinking maybe 4+ One or two were speed runs where I finished the game within a couple hours in one sitting. It's not long if you skip all the cut scenes and most of the enemies, as I recall.

And GTA V features one of the most memorable characters in video game history for me. Trevor. Every scene with him made me cringe, or had my sides aching from laughter--THAT'S HOW YOU WRITE A FUCKING CHARACTER! And that LSD trip with Michael? Amazing.

I still don't quite get Greg's issue with GTA V. After playing it myself, I just don't get it.

 

[DataSnake]

Saints Row IV. Just moving from one side of the map to the other was a lot of fun, never mind the balls-out amazing story missions, outstanding use of licensed music, and the best sense of humor this side of Portal or The Stanley Parable. The Walking Dead or The Last of Us can make you cry, but Saints Row can make you laugh.

 

[snappydog]

Just Cause 2 is the most fun I've ever had with a game, despite being totally aware that it's not the best game ever by most standards. It's just ridiculous over-the-top awesomeness. I should really play Saint's Row...

 

[ForumSafari]

I'm mostly a 4x, grand strategy, RPG and CCG player so imagine my surprise when Metal Gear Rising had me grinning ear to ear. It's basically the complete opposite of what I normally play but cutting a metal gear apart with a sword while the music pumps and the singer shouts "rules of nature!" was extremely gratifying.

It isn't my 'best game ever' but is the most recent game I've been pleasantly surprised by.

 

[Dragonlayer]

All the games I choose to play are fun, that's why I play them! Granted, they don't conform to a universal or stereotypical notion of fun (for instance, Resident Evil 4 will always have a place in my heart as a downright awesome romp, while Special Ops: The Line was deliciously twisted, masochistic enjoyment), but I still go into games to have a good time!

 

[prowll]

Just Cause 2 is the most fun I've ever had with a game, despite being totally aware that it's not the best game ever by most standards. It's just ridiculous over-the-top awesomeness. I should really play Saint's Row...

You really should. Saint's Row 2 is about the same for Just Cause 2 in the 'balls out oddness' category, and about as much fun. And then the series goes waaay off the rails after that.

EDIT: Oh, and I have the most fun with sandbox games. So Skyrim, followed by the Saint's Row series, GTA 2,3 and 5, Just Cause 2, .....

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

I don't know if they're "just" for fun but they should at least be fun.

That's a narrow way of looking at it. How do you define fun?

Same way I define every other word, with a dictionary. "Something amusing or entertaining".

But you get the idea. "fun" is a narrow-ass term.

Quite the contrary, "something amusing or entertaining" is broad enough to take in each person's own sense of amusement and entertainment.

I don't play games for fun so I can't answer this question.

I have a hard time believing that. Either you play games for work or otherwise derive some sort of personal amusement from them, no matter how high-brow or low-brow you think the experience is.

 

[the_great_cessation]

I wouldn't classify the bulk of my favorite games as just "fun". I'd say most of them are engaging or immersive but I don't know about fun. For example, as much as I enjoy games like Shadow of the Colossus, The Last of Us and LA Noire, I struggle to classify any of them as just "fun". That isn't to say I don't enjoy games that are fun. Quite the opposite, as I do have quite a good list of games I enjoy for just how fun they are. However, I wouldn't say that they are the best games of all time or anything . With that said Rayman Legends, Rayman Origins, A Link Between Worlds, Donkey Kong Country Returns, Viewtiful Joe, God of War II, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2, Super Mario Galaxy, Dishonored, Bioshock Infinite and the Super Smash Bros series would all be in consideration for the "most fun" I've had with a game (despite how hard that is to gauge).