﻿Hey you! Are you playing a video game while you watch this video? Why is that?
I’m not trying to shame you! I do it all the time. While I game, I listen to podcasts, I binge TV
shows, and I watch video essays on YouTube.
[aggressively clearing throat]
And I’m not alone. Even back in 2008 a study found that the average American youth spends 7.5 hours
consuming media per day, and at least 29% of that time is spent “media multitasking.”
… so, is that okay?? Well, the research indicates that HEAVY media multitasking can worsen short
term memory, lower our performance on tasks requiring sustained attention,
and worsen our short term memory. And when it comes to multitasking in general, doing two things
at once that require your full attention means neither thing gets your full attention.
Which is why you should never, ever text while driving. If you get one
thing from this video, please make it that. But not everything we consume these days
requires our full attention. And in those cases, it’s not gonna kill you to double dip.
And let’s face it, “seconds screens” have become a way of life for many of us.
Multi-monitor setups, a switch and a TV, a smartphone and anything.
Streaming apps are full of algorithmically bingeable series and old favorites we’ve
completely memorized, perfect for putting on in the background. Not to mention the never
ending flood of podcasts, live streams, YouTube video essays (silent wink)... and video games.
For me, there are certain series and even genres of games that are a natural fit for
multitasking. And after pinging our intra-office communications hub, I quickly found that many of
my coworkers also multitask with the same types of games. But there were also naysayers.
For an additional layer of data gathering, I decided to chat with them about it…
while playing a video game.
- Clayton (in interview): I'm going to be playing some Powerwash Simulator, and feel free to play
whatever you want while we're doing the interview.
-Julia Lee: Yeah, I'm not gonna lie, I was already progressing through the new Final Fantasy 14 story.
I am a Guides Producer. So I write a bunch of guides... A lot of games that I
cover are like live service games, games that are constantly getting updates,
like Genshin Impact, or Final Fantasy 14, and all that stuff.
- Clayton: Julia Lee is a consistent media multitasker: she is almost always doing something else while she’s gaming.
- Julia: Even when I'm getting ready for my day, like while I'm getting ready, I'm auto-playing [Auto-Chess] between
doing my eyeliner.
- Clayton: Which is something you’d never catch deputy managing editor Samit Sarkar doing. Not the eyeliner,
I actually didn’t actually ask him that question, but when
it comes to media multitasking:
- Samit: I would never.
The idea of just having one game going, and then doing, like, actively consuming another form of media at the same time
is just anathema to my entire existence. The closest I’ve come is like, I'll have a
podcast on while I'm doing chores. And —
- Clayton (voice-over): Even though I was getting rid
of a tough stain in Powerwash Simulator, this answer caught my attention. Julia
had mentioned something very similar:
- Clayton: What sort of games do you play while doing something else?
- Julia: Anything and everything
that doesn't demand like 100% of my attention… But like meaningless, like
farming tasks, if I have to run like a dungeon that I've done a million times.
- Clayton: AKA chores. They may not be real life ones, but they’re boring all the same.
I was starting to really understand the full spectrum of media multitaskers,
from Samit’s hyper focus, to my own casual second screening, and on to what I can only describe
as Julia’s higher state of consciousness.
- Julia: A lot of mobile games that have like
autoplay systems — even taking it a step further, I'll find
if I'm doing like my Final Fantasy 14 dailies while watching, I don't know, the latest episode
of Riverdale on my other monitor. I might be auto playing another game on my phone or iPad.
- Clayton: It was really helpful to hear from these differing perspectives, and it brought up
an interesting question: was there something about modern games that makes us want to multitask?
To get more data I tracked down some forum polls and started a discourse on Twitter that
provided a lot of insight, and somehow only one semi-aggressive response.
Like Julia and Samit, some of us only play this way and some can’t do it at all. But a lot of
us fit somewhere in the middle, sticking either to games with little to no narrative,
or simply pausing a story-driven game whenever a cutscene plays. We are well
aware of how much attention we have to spare and adjust accordingly.
Some of us prefer to pair our media with considerations for genre matching while others
discover ...unique content juxtapositions.
TALK ABOUT A SOGGY BOTTOM!
What I thought was especially interesting was
the wide variety of games that people multitask with. Almost all of them can
be broken down into five categories... and the first is simulators and survival.
[jazzy 80s businesscore music]
For many of us, the ideal form of relaxation is simulating a life that we’ll never live.
Running a farm, living on a remote island, building a PC. These games give us a sense
of control: over the environment or across generations. A chance to shape something,
watching it grow and change over time. But TIME is the key thing here.
You have to spend a LOT of time in these games. Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither
will the fully functioning tamagotchi you’re building in Minecraft. Having a solid mid-tier,
six season show to semi-watch in the background helps the time fly by.
Even better, games like The Sims and most city builders give you direct control over time;
speeding it up, slowing it down, and even just...
[mouse click]
pausing it. Which makes them particularly compatible with watching something on a
second screen, since you can always pause the game whenever Adrien Brody is mumbling.
I also put the survival and crafting games in this category because they have a similar and
comfortingly familiar structure. Sure, there’s a lot of menial tasks, but always with a long term
goal that keeps driving you forward through the hours of harvesting and crafting.
This hints at the key thing that all five of these game categories in common:
a massive time commitment. You can’t gain mastery over a craft or craft a master work without it.
Even at 3x speed, it takes hours to send a Sim to college. And just like actual child rearing,
there are some real boring parts.
[more elevatory-feeling 80s businesscore music]
Turn-based games are another genre that
give you control over time, which makes them well-tuned for multitasking. You can
sneak turns of Into the Breach between 90 Day Fiance meltdowns, fold your laundries while the
enemies are moving around in XCOM, or even do your eyeliner between rounds of AutoChess.
The experience isn’t passive by any means, but so long as you’re not playing an online game,
your attention can come and go as you please. And if the show that you’re binging
suddenly becomes more compelling, no worries! Your civilization can wait in the medieval era,
this show has a fucking ghost on it now! The “just one more turn” cliche is a testament
to how hard it is to put these games down. Civilization is the famous one,
but even seemingly simple games like Islanders or Dorfromantik can keep you up until 3:00 am. And
nighttime feels less lonely when you can pretend those podcasts hosts are your friends.
I also want to give a shoutout to a game I only came across thanks to some suggestions on Twitter,
called Peglin, which combines a Slay the Spire-style progression system with Peggle.
The game practically plays itself, making it perfect for multitasking.
[whistly, more folksy businesscore music]
To be honest, I wouldn’t think of neverending, randomized Roguelikes and punishing Souls-games
as being good for multitasking, but a lot of people felt otherwise. This category also
includes Tetris, because I couldn't really figure out where else to put it and you can’t stop me.
I know that which games a person is comfortable multitasking with is highly subjective, but I’ve
got some theories as to why these types of games work for so many people. Yes, they are difficult,
but they’re also skill-based. The more you increase those skills, the more second nature they
become — and the less attention they require. And the less attention they require, the easier it
is to fit in a podcast or livestream alongside it. People also replay these titles to try out
different builds, so you’re gaining a lot of familiarity with the maps and enemies along
the way. Players end up spending so much time in these worlds that maybe they can finally use
one of those coupon codes from Audible. I don’t have one, but i ‘m sure you can find one.
Also, just like the previous category, the constant death gives you a compulsive drive
for just one more run, one more life, one more try. That game loop means you’re frequently
starting over at square one, and square one is BORING. So I think having media you can focus
into and out of as the game gets more and less difficult is key here.
And even though this isn’t my preferred genre to multitask with, I do have a recommendation.
Noita is a side-scrolling roguelike with a bonkers level of environmental destructibility
and the most chaotic magic wands in all of video game-dom. You will blow yourself up a lot,
so it’s nice to pair with some positive and uplifting second screen content.
[hornful 80s businesscore music!]
Open world games are getting bigger and so are their to-do lists.
I blame this on the “Ubisoft Towers” design of open world gaming.
Assassin’s Creed was the originator of this viewpoint-based method of cartography,
and the series came up many times in my Twitter poll. But this design has long
escaped the AC franchise, and it brought along its expanding list of boxes to check.
And it's exactly what makes this genre ideal for a companion podcast. Many of the side quests
are just busy work: chase down 10 feathers, defeat 100 wolves, skin 1 billion rabbits.
Even with a fast travel system, there’s still plenty of ground to cover: just like we turn
on the radio in a car, a little thinkin’ music keeps us safe from total boredom.
AND just as a reminder, research shows that listening to music CAN help us drive a little better,
which is NOT the same as texting while driving, I WILL HIDE YOUR CAR KEYS.
Anyway, I think that these open world games are best enjoyed alongside content with a
similar theme or vibe. Lots of people on Twitter mentioned pairing Elden Ring with lore videos,
and i think No Man’s Sky is a perfect match for just about any sci-fi show with a spaceship.
[unsilence, as some chill 80s string-and-synth music plays]
Now before I get to this final group of games, I want to acknowledge the hard
work that video game composers do to create rich, immersive soundtracks for our favorite games…
which a lot of us multitaskers promptly turn off. Hoo-boy, that's gotta feel pretty bad!
[horn-frontal businesscore music]
Grinding. Farming. Chores. If there’s one gaming trend that came up more than
any other in my research, it’s the rise of “rise-n-grind”. Sure, some of the simulators
I mentioned earlier were simulating real-ass jobs, but that’s not the kind of grinding I’m
talking about. You can play those games at your leisure. Chore games are about schedules.
I’m talking about battlepasses with seasons. Subscriptions and
dailies. I’m talking about DLC calendars, retiring gear, and free-to-play economies.
These are games where the more you check in and the more you grind, the more you’re
rewarded with boosts and items and cosmetics. And sometimes that stuff costs real money. But
you have to be consistent to really progress: they’re called dailies for a reason.
Naturally, we find something else to do while doing our little game chores. We tune in to our
favorite TV show, catch up on a beloved YouTuber, or maybe just chat with our friends in Discord.
To be clear, I’m not belittling these games, or the joy they provide many of
us. A game chore can be a very relaxing way to decompress after a long day of actual labor or
just a “place” to shoot the shit with friends… or a streamer!
But I still couldn’t help feeling that chores might just be the answer to the underlying
question: why is multitasking becoming such a common way to play video games? And why do
our games have so many chores? Exploding game budgets, publisher
financialization, recurrent revenue streams, consolidation: everything is pushing developers
to make huge games that keep players coming back day after day after day — and they’ve
found that an effective way of doing that is with a long list of daily chores. A lot of my other
categories are genres that have been around since the 90s… which was 30 years ago.
But these chore games have really only become ubiquitous in the last decade.
Their scope, if not their square footage, is massive even as they’re often free to
play. They just demand more of our time and dedication instead.
And yet they don’t capture our full attention because they’re not as fulfilling. We feel the
need to add something to keep them from becoming too boring,
like we all do with our real chores. It’s lamentable that the games industry
is directing so much of its efforts into getting us to play games
that often feel like work. And I feel that the trend is only getting stronger.
So what can we take from all of this? Well I really can't say for sure: honestly, all I did was ask a
question on Twitter. But what I do know is DON’T FUCKING TEXT WHILE YOU’RE DRIVING!
[stay tuned for a credits bonus while this groovy music plays]
- Samit: I, I will occasionally become, like, just mesmerized
by a commercial or something.
And she's like, Samit, we have to GO. Like —
get your shoes on! And I'm like, oh, I'm sorry!
The... the... the Noid... was just... compelling.
So compelling that I couldn't tear my eyes away.