The other day I read something unsettling about female octopuses. Or octopesses. Or octopuxes… whatever, the female ones.
I'm no biologist, but for some reason this kind of thing gets me.
Turns out a female octopus lays eggs exactly once in her life. Not because of the cost of living, and not because the fish government caps it at one. No. Nothing like that.
Once she lays them, she stops eating and does nothing but look after them, for months, sometimes years. Nothing. Not a coffee, not the last square of chocolate hiding in the fridge. Nothing at all. They do dead-mittent fasting.
Dad joke. Moving on.
When the eggs hatch, she lets herself die. Just like that.
Jesus Christ.
A mother octopus doesn't get to decide when it suits her, or that today's zumba class wrecked her, or that she has a headache.
Her body literally shuts down for everything except that. Once it starts, there is no going back. It's a one-way decision.
You are not a mother octopus. Or so I hope.
Your backlog doesn't die if you neglect it.
Your brain doesn't let itself die if you never finish that 100 hour RPG.
You can stop whenever you like. Skip it, drop it, come back months later, or never.
This has happened to me with plenty of games. The most recent was Alan Wake 2.
Nothing against it. The game is good.
I got carried away by the hype and bought it, then parked it in the backlog.
And my stupid brain went at me every single day: you spent the money and you haven't even downloaded it.
So one day I gave in and started playing.
The first stretch with the detective had me. But when it switched me over to Alan and the heavy paranoia started, it lost me. I stopped enjoying it.
For days I pushed through because I had to finish it, until I caught myself inventing excuses not to sit down in the chair.
The game had already given me its good nights. The ones where you check the clock and can't work out what day it is.
What did I owe it? I was the one who paid, and it was shaking me down on top of that.
I dropped it. And I didn't look back.
I said thanks and put it back in the backlog, the way we used to return books to the library.
That night I played something else, with an excitement I hadn't felt in a long time.
I still quit things, I still come back, I still start new ones. I just don't punish myself for it.
The backlog is still there. So am I.
For when…
…you want to start something knowing you will see the end: Portal. Three hours from open to credits and not one of them is filler: possibly the best laughs per puzzle ratio in the history of the medium.
It pauses and saves wherever you like, and the ending arrives before life gets in the way. Not for you if a short game feels like half a purchase: this one is worth ten long ones.
Tell me the game you quit and don't miss. I read every reply.