Playing Getting Over It with Bennet Foddy in a group was a unique experience to say the least. I had played the game before (although I never beat it) and I was decently familiar with the first half of the game. As such, I was able to impress everyone with my ultra-instinct gamer skills as I moved past the part the group was stuck on. I noticed that every maneuver I did (even if I knew it was relatively safe), any progress I made (no matter how small) evoked reactions from the group.
Failure is part of the game. While the ultimate goal is to avoid failure and reach the top of the mountain, Bennet Foddy continuously reminds the player of the existence of failure. However, failure is also presented as a way to practice older segments, to get better at them and decrease your chances of failure. It is so exciting, then, to reach a new point in the game. There is some affect to progress, and progress can only be measured with failure. As Gotye once said, “you can be addicted to a certain kind of sadness.”
Failure in Getting Over It is punishing. Extremely punishing. Like, I-want-to-give-up punishing. But the sheer exhilaration from making any kind of progress is what makes the game so playable. It is a lesson of not giving up in the face of hardship, presented as a hardship. The game is incredibly difficult. It’s frustrating to play. I hate every second of the game. But maybe that’s why it’s so fun.
I think the difference between failure when playing alone and failure when playing together is astonishing. When you’re playing alone, failure is typically annoying even if you resolve to get better. When you fail a game when playing with a group, there’s hardly any negativity. Everyone was hoping you’d win, but they’re never disappointed in you. This makes a great difference because you don’t really feel any shame, but you nevertheless have learned and desire to get better. I think this has large implications in terms of how people learn together while playing games vs how they learn while doing anything else. I wonder how this can be applied to a different goal.
I think the fact that getting over it emphasizes failure is super interesting because that emphasis gives even more satisfaction to making it further ahead. Personally, I prefer games that are harder and more punishing for that reason which is why I really want to play Getting Over It. The game has been on my list forever.