#zettel #gaming sourced from: [[Void Stranger]] ## The Feeling of Physical and Mental Drain Is Part of the Experience of Void Stranger It seems as though in Void Stranger (and to a great extent [[ZeroRanger]]), the System Erasure Team is repeating that the only way to lose is to give up. When you run out of lives (locusts), you can enter the "Voided" status which just removes lives from the equation! So you're able to play the game without the risk of *losing* anymore. The only thing you have to worry about is your own ability to keep playing. This is where things become an endurance test. Once you clear a puzzle, your only reward is a new puzzle. You are not offered any kind of respite aside from the birch trees that come about every so often in the main track of floors. But if you've found any places beyond the numbered branes, then this feeling is amplified tenfold. I recall the trip through Mon's lair, the first time I actually started to feel the squeeze. I was so mentally wiped out by the time I stopped playing the game for the evening. I was physically tired, and my brain was exhausted. I kept thinking that I could just keep going, that I could outlast the puzzles in the play session. It was a feeling of obsession. I don't think I've ever felt quite like this when playing a video game, let alone a puzzle game. ## Related Thought - hmm maybe taking some breaks isn't always a bad thing - There's some science about your brain being able to subconsciously solve problems while you sleep. I notice that I was able to solve some problems when I took a break and then came back later. - It kind of reminds me of how [[I can only play so much of Blazing Blade at a time before I need a Mental Break because the game requires a LOT of mental attention]]