Being Geek Chic is a blog about one woman navigating the male-dominated industries of production and tech. It's written by Elizabeth Giorgi, Founder, CEO and Director of Mighteor - one of the world's first internet video production companies. Learn more about Mighteor here.
Working in a startup is a truly high stress job. And if you’re a regular reader around here, well, you know that I run a startup of my own. But, add in the fact that most of my best clients are also in startups… And then add on the reality that most of my friends work in startups… And wow, there’s a lot of stress in our young lives. So what do I always suggest we do in order to destress and reset?
Platformer games!
Are you surprised I didn’t say yoga? Yeah, yoga works too. But the ultimate winner for me is still those old fashioned 2d games. It’s not just nostalgia, either. I’ve given this some serious thought. While first person shooters might seem like the obvious choice, I’m not a huge fan of unnecessary shows of wild violence, but that’s not the only reason.
Here are five reasons platformers might be the unexpected stress relief you need:
1. Platformer games allow you to totally escape into a meaningless task while enjoying the feeling of simple accomplishments. Get the coins! Jump high! Run fast! Sometimes it’s the smallest little wins that help us get out of our own heads and re-establish a connection with our lives.
2. Platformer games can be found on virtually every type of device. Your phone, tablet, computer or system are all equipped with platformers on the go. So when I’m having a stressful afternoon, sometimes, I’ll just pull up a quick game on my laptop and enjoy the moment.
3. Platformer games don’t require a ton of background story to get started. I love me a complicated game with hours and hours of playtime, but sometimes you just aren’t capable of putting in that time investment. Hell, I think I probably put half a year into Professor Layton, but I regret nothing!
4. Platformer games now exist for virtually every kind of fandom you can imagine. Whether it’s Pixar themed games or Adventure Time madness or Steven Universe silliness, you can emerge in a world of silly jumping and running with your favorite characters.
5. Platformer games are like escaping into a memory of a simpler time. A time when you used to beg for a Nintendo every day until Christmas when you finally got one. Remember when life was that simple? Yeah, that’s a good reminder: sometimes embracing simplicity is a necessary stress relief.
It’s no huge surprise that video games are used around the world by nerds who need a moment to destress. Or a whole week, you know how it goes. But next time you find yourself in a particularly stressful moment, I truly suggest going for a platformer. You might be surprised how satisfyingly de-stressing the 2d world can be.
Platformers are sort of this weird thing in gaming. It’s like a super niche band that people like enough to sport the vintage throw back tee, but don’t actually listen to all that often. I can’t get enough of platformers, though, and I especially like when they reinvent some element of game play to make them fresh.
Here’s three I suggest you try if for no other reason than they aren’t the simple platformers you’re used to:
Bit.Trip’s Runner 2:
Why It’s Awesome: Well, running shouldn’t be this fun. I’m serious. The speed and difficulty of the Runner games always accelerates so quickly that you honestly wonder how you managed to complete each level immediately after you completed it. Like some kind of platform amnesia. This sense of accomplishment is addictive, so keep running!
What’s New About It: So Runner is all about running, but the thing that’s new is the additional moves beyond jumping which up the difficulty. The dive feature is something we’ve seen in other platformers, but the ability to extend the dive position for long periods of time is totally new. It also serves as an attack of sorts, which is rad.
Thomas Was Alone
Why It’s Awesome: It’s super rare for me to feel like…deeply depressed about a game about blocks to be over. I mean, this may be because there are so few games about blocks. But, you get my drift. The story is weirdly heartening and the game play is so well-integrated that you start to feel for these various colored shapes.
What’s New About It: Part of the challenge and fun of this game is that each of the named shapes have different skills. Individually, they can’t do much, but together, every level can be tackled. Instead of leveling up to get new skills, you essentially level up to acquire new characters with new skills. This creates a certain amount of favoritism (Sarah is the best.) - but it also keeps you engaged in the story. Also, it’s now available on Android, so you should probably get on that.
Ibb and Obb
Why It’s Awesome: Let’s talk about gravity. It’s not nearly well-examined enough in any game of any kind. Pretty much, it exists and all games obey it. That seems short sighted. Thank goodness Ibb and Obb came around.
What’s New About It: Ibb and Obb takes our universal concept of gravity and says: eh, enough of that. The most important element of the game experience is that you can play both on the top and the bottom of the platforms. Sometimes, it’s to avoid enemies or blockades and other times it’s simply to get rewards. Either way, I don’t know why we haven’t always been able to run on the bottom of platforms.
