Gaming outside of the box

I have been trying to set up a game of Dungeons and Dragons for some friends and I to play since August. Besides taking time to learn the rules and working around everyone's schedule, finding players is a tough process. It may be because they are trying to avoid the air of cultural nerdiness that comes with Dungeons and Dragons. It may also be that young people's imaginations have been destroyed by the digital game age.

Tabletop games compared to console video games are like an open-ended project to a set of math problems. Tabletop games allow for players to be creative and resourceful while video games force players to resolve situations within a fixed set of rules.

For those who have not experienced a game of Dungeons and Dragons, and other similar tabletop games, it is a popular fantasy role-playing game run by two components. Half of the game relies on a set of numeric rules controlled by throwing dice. The other half relies on the imagination of the storyteller or the dungeon master, who narrates the fantasy-based story. A dungeon master will describe a setting and scenario, and the characters will work together navigating through the setting to accomplish the objective however they see fit. By being able to make unique choices through collaborating with other players, tabletop games allow the players to be much more creative in constructing a gaming situation that is much more gratifying than a video game.

A common day video game (mainly focusing on first-person shooters, action and role-playing games) sets up a rendered setting, a situation and character for a player. The television screen displays the character's setting and most of the time the character itself. The story is usually set and really inflexible. After stripping a player of all creative control and outlook of the game, all that is left is hours of learning complex button combinations in order to move the character from one point to the next to advance the in-game story to a usually predictable, classic Hollywood movie type ending. Because of the lack of choice in video games, I don't find them to be nearly as enjoyable as the uniqueness of a tabletop game.

In the essay, "Play as a Function of Toy Structure and Fantasy Predisposition," by Mary Ann Spencer Pulaski, she found that if children were given minimally structured toys like paint, clay and simple rag dolls, as compared to highly structured toys like Barbie's and G.I. Joes, then they had greater imaginative output. She also quoted cognitive psychologist J.L. Singer by saying that "fantasy is a creative, cognitive skill associated with the ability to control impulses and to delay gratification." Therefore, I feel that gamers are able to benefit more from the opportunities to make more creative choices with tabletop games.

I feel that tabletop games are more applicable to real life than a video game could ever be. In Dungeons and Dragons, players learn to cooperate with others at a table in order to accomplish a scenario objective successfully. Just as in Monopoly, where players negotiate deals for property, Dungeons and Dragons allows a person to work with others to advance the story of his or her life. Video games only offer the same situation that gradually becomes more difficult as the player moves from one level to the next, like a person moving up the corporate ladder at a place of employment.

This writer can be contacted at opinion@theeastcarolinian.com.