I played Jump King in the Difficult Games Play Session, and my experience with it made me realize aspects of how I play games and how I perceive difficulty in gaming that were previously unbeknownst to me. At first, Jump King was startlingly difficult to control. I had never been used to platformers where you were not able to control your arc while in mid-air. The force you use to jump with, depending on how long you hold the jump button down, creates an arc that is unwavering. Thus, this requires a lot of precision out of the player.
After a while, I got used to the controls, and the game started to become addictive. By overcoming the mechanical difficulty of the game, I was able to enjoy the experience more. However, once I progressed a few levels higher from the starting point, I became frustrated and impatient with the game’s controls, and I started rushing a lot, which led to me falling down many times, often back to the starting point.
I also think that playing with other people watching creates a sense of tension, and it made me not want to mess up. While there was likely no schadenfreude involved, I still wanted to prove myself in front of an audience. However, this bred more tension because there was inherent judgment based on my performance. This didn’t really affect my speed though, and I continued to rush and mess up even more frequently.
Ultimately, the mechanical difficulty of the game made for a fun experience, especially considering that I had never played a game that controlled quite like Jump King. The vertical level system was pretty punishing to the player, but there were some forgiving platforms here and there that prevented you from falling farther down. I think the key to Jump King is patience, because my experience of rushing through the levels meant that I messed up and restarted a lot.
I like how you brought up the sense of tension that arises from playing Jump King with other people. For me, it was a mix of whether I felt a sense of tension that made me play worse or a sense of camaraderie that made me play better. I think this speaks to the affective difficulty that can arise from games like Jump King. The affective experience can vary between groups of people playing the same game and is something that is created within the boundaries and gameplay of Jump King but is further developed by the dynamics of the group.
I can only agree with you in regards to the sense of tension. When I was playing Jump King, I only had about 2 other people around me watching. I tried to perfectly time my jumps and get as far as I could. There was one person who cheered me on throughout the journey, saying “nice” when I succeeded on some of the jumps. My motivation and drive to continue grew as time passed. However, as the number of viewers steadily increased, I began to become more conscious of how I was doing. My motivation didn’t last long as I began to fail on the same jump multiple times to the point where I stopped and passed the controller to the person sitting next to me. Although I would say performance in video games is somewhat affected by an audience, I would say this is especially true with difficult games. This is inevitable as the margin for success is so much smaller for games with higher difficulty.
I can only agree with you in regards to the sense of tension. When I was playing Jump King, I only had about 2 other people around me watching. I tried to perfectly time my jumps and get as far as I could. There was one person who cheered me on throughout the journey, saying “nice” when I succeeded on some of the jumps. My motivation and drive to continue grew as time passed. However, as the number of viewers steadily increased, I began to become more conscious of how I was doing. My motivation didn’t last long as I began to fail on the same jump multiple times to the point where I stopped and passed the controller to the person sitting next to me. Although I would say performance in video games is somewhat affected by an audience, I would say this is especially true with difficult games. This is inevitable as the margin for success is so much narrower for games with higher difficulty.
I can completely relate to the feeling of wanting to prove yourself in Jump King. As a fellow sufferer, I understand how frustrating the game can be and how that desire to succeed does not go away with that difficulty. The interaction between failure through difficulty and a desire to overcome that failure is incredibly intriguing because the stakes aren’t high if you are dying at the start. But you want to succeed to prove that you can do it, showing that intrinsic interaction between pride and failure in gaming.