For this week’s post, I decided to do a tutorial of Dream Daddy (DD), the dad dating simulator video game that I’ve brought up a few times in class and in my blog post from three weeks ago. I found a number of relevant connections between this particular video game and the Fox article we read (“Reimagining the Avatar Dream: Modeling Social Identity in Digital Media”).
I tried to cut the three hours of recording I did down to something reasonable, but it’s still on the longer side (12 mins.). Feel free to watch only the more relevant parts I’ve marked below:
- 2:20 – 5:55
Avatar creation - 6:30 – 7:05 & 8:10 – 9:00
More connections to Fox reading - 10:20 – 11:25
Reflections on Alexander article: reward, narrative, & intrigue
Some questions I’d be interested to hear your thoughts on:
- According to Fox, a classification system refers to “a set of boxes (metaphorical or literal) into which things can be put in order to then do some kind of work.” Reacting to the prevalence of classification systems, he then defines “box effects” as a contrasting occurence: “the experiences of people that emerge from the failure of classification systems” (54). How would you position the options for creating an avatar on DD in relation to these two concepts?
- In the video above, I observed that the gameplay for DD is atypical in that it doesn’t seem to be driven by reward in the way Alexander describes. However, I suspect I may be wrong in this idea (I don’t have a lot of experience playing video games). From the limited introduction I’ve provided, what do you think drives players to continue playing DD?
March 6, 2018 at 2:34 am
Hero!
Ok, now that I’ve finished the video–this is just so great….
I would suggest to answer your second question that Nardi’s discussion of Dewey and play as an aesthetic experience might work when discussing the play style in Dream Daddy. Captivating activity which is described in Chapter 2, which is goal-oriented but there is a sly sort of secondary game going on not dissimilar from Cow Clicker in that the black-and-white competitive battle between the daughters looks like a “real” game but everyone knows what the actual game is. The rewards are not winning a battle here but getting more of those little hearts and…etc.
March 6, 2018 at 2:57 am
Ha. I’m glad you approve. I was going back and forth on whether or not I should even upload it!
March 6, 2018 at 3:02 am
I was very excited. I went back and edited my first comment. I think that I can probably say more about Dewey and activity theory/aesthetics of play (which is pretty funny when you think about it, but it works) but I need to revisit Nardi.
March 6, 2018 at 3:55 pm
Yay! More Dream Daddies analysis!
1. I think that DD avoids “box effects” as it’s defined here. There are no real biases ascribed to your ‘dad’ avatar. All that is enforced is that you’re a single dad with a daughter, that you’re both new to the neighborhood, and that, eventually, you will begin dating some dads. Everything else is up to the player to decide.
2. I’d actually argue that DD is pretty gamified. Once you start getting deeper into dates, you can get more or less hearts and eggplant emojis (<3) depending on how well you're connecting with the dad in question. Players have already figured out how to win these dates through conversation: https://dreamdaddy.gamepedia.com/Damien#Conversation_Options . DD also sometimes makes you play games (like the one you demonstrate with Brian) during your dates that each have different modes and styles. For example, while dating Hugo, I had to go through a trivia contest, but while dating Mat I needed to move through a race-type game while avoiding various obstacles. Once you reach the end of the game, you're either rewarded with a new beau or you're punished for your loss by being completely alone: not only are you single, but your daughter leaves for college as your avatar sits morosely beneath a tree. All that to say, I think that players are driven by desiring a "win," but even more so, I think players are driven by the narrative and by the experience of dating these different characters.
March 6, 2018 at 4:04 pm
Thanks for this comment, Caitlin. I’ve actually been thinking a lot in the last few days about the gamified aspects of DD, and I’ve realized that I’d been evaluating the game with a too narrow definition of what a game is. Your points are excellent (as are your insights–you’re a much more advanced daddy than I am), and I think they pair nicely with the point Professor Davidson made about there being secondary games that accompany (and possibly distract, possibly add to) the main game narrative (which, as you said, is about finding your dream daddy! Ryan’s post about side quests within a larger narrative (re: Skyrim) seems to parallel this also.