PlayFrame

Recommend me a game to "play" for this weird video idea

Added 2022-06-10 21:13:42 +0000 UTC

I want to try out a weird video idea and need help picking a game to do it with!

To explain:

As a person who works in video games for a living, it's often helpful (and, at this point, reflexive) to study the craft of any game I play while I'm playing it. To try to figure out how systems are working under the hood, to guess as to the design intentions behind each element, to suss out what's making an experience work (or not work), etc. And I imagine most game devs can't HELP but do this. Get a bunch of game devs in the lunch room with a new AAA release and you'll hear some fascinating conversations while the in-game character stares at a bench or runs in a circle, making absolutely zero in-game progress.

I often do this on my own when specifically studying a game for work or capturing footage for New Frame Plus; situations where analysis is the primary goal of playing the game at all. But I usually suppress this instinct for PlayFrame playthroughs (well, somewhat), as the analysis process tends to require not actually playing the game as intended, ruining the carefully-crafted player experience.

But recently, as she watched me stare at in-game benches and run in circles for a work thing, mumbling my observations aloud, Carrie mentioned "You could totally stream this, it's interesting". And that's not a bad idea! No harm in trying, anyway.

What game should I attempt this idea on?

Given I've never attempted doing this for an audience's entertainment before, I'm not sure what sort of game to pick for the trial run of this idea. So I'm open to suggestions! Or any other thoughts or questions you might have. If you've got any, comment below!

Thanks, and have a good weekend!