Metagaming Part 1: How not to play a game by its Rules

There are a lot of topical things I could talk about in this week's post. Capcom announced new ideas to improve its sales, the background check on guns bill just got shot down so I could do a piece on violence in gaming for example.  The former is something I'll think about but have already touched upon, and the latter is something I'm actually already working on in debate form for class. Perhaps I'll regurgitate my argument here after I present it in class.  Until then, here's something that ties in with last week's entry on different ways to play your games.

What do I mean by metagaming? Perhaps you're more familiar with the term tan you may think. Metagaming is defined as playing a game in a manner that transcends the game's established set of rules, such as using knowledge outside of the game to affect how one plays.  It can be as simple as writing down answers for a memorization puzzle or using the internet to find a hard-to-find item.  A good - if unintentional - example I've discovered is a video from internet content creator Egoraptor's series Sequelitis whereupon he talks about games and their sequels.  The sequel in question is Super Castlevania 4, where he talks about how the series' staple of subweapons didn't change to reflect the design of the newer games (please note that his pronunciation of meta sucks).

 

The video talks about eschewing situations where the game encourages you to use items to beat it, and that's kind of the core of metagaming that sets the standard for a lot of other situations I'll talk about.  Probably the most well known form of metagaming is a speedrun.  It's exactly what it sounds like; running through a game as fast as you possibly can.  Adventure games like Super Metroid are perfect for this, especially because of how these games emphasize collecting items to proceed. By skipping over key upgrades, one can either bypass challenging sections to come back with equipment that one shouldn't have yet.

An example of this can be seen in the original NES Zelda, where it's possible to get to the final dungeon of the game without ever needing to use the sword. Some games reward the player for getting through the game quickly or accomplishing difficult challenges.  The PS2 brawler God Hand puts a "kick me" sign on the player character in an early cutscene that gets blown away if the player uses either of a pair of power-ups.  If the player gets through the game without losing the kick me sign, then they unlock bonus content depending on the difficulty level.

Some games don't reward challenge.  Classic games like Super Mario Bros. and Quake - one of the games that spawned the concept of speedrunning (which is exactly what it sounds like) where no reward was involved - have no incentive to play through the game quickly.  In this case, it mostly revolves around a player showing off how knowledgeable or skilled they are with a particular game.

I won't say that recent games have been easier recently.  However, making one's own rules to play the game with can amplify the challenge and possibly enhance the enjoyment of a game, depending on how into said game a person is.  Speedruns in particular have been embraced, with several sites raising money for charities while doing speedruns of games.  Others do it of their own free will out of determination or love for games.  Often the two coincide.

Some of the ways that these guys exploit the game is nuts.

I plan to follow this up with another part detailing examples the attitudes of game companies on the part of metagaming.  Look forward to it!

Image Source
http://speeddemosarchive.com/

Further Reading
Wikipedia article on Speedrunning
Wikipedia article on Quake done quick