gaming Can a realistic "Slice of life" game work?

[TheMisterManGuy 344]

There have been life Sims like Animal Crossing before. But even in life Sims, they still have some weird, fantastical element to it. However, what if there was a realistic slice-of-life game, completely grounded in reality. No quirky animals, no fantasy setting, no super-serious, complex story, no combat, no bad guy, no save the day and get points. A game that was down to earth, simple, and was really just about living the day to day lives of regular, no frills, relatable characters. The best comparisons I can make are TV shows like The Weekenders or The Adventures of Pete and Pete. A sort of, Interactive sitcom if you will. Could a game like that actually work? And be a success?

[Trinitron Keys 89]

A pony mmorpg? Maybe, but they'd have to work at keeping griefers and whatnot under control. Getting sent to the Cornfield would mean Hey! Free Lunch! *nomnom*

[Discordian 6,013]

I dunno about being a success but I think Shenmue fits the bill here. Also lots of Visual Novels (some count them as games) do exactly this.

[TheMisterManGuy 344]

I dunno about being a success but I think Shenmue fits the bill here. Also lots of Visual Novels (some count them as games) do exactly this.

Well, Shenmue despite being grounded in reality, still had a complex story, with the goal of beating up bad guys and saving the day in addition to it's more relaxed moments.

[Concerned Bystander 2,902]

Speaking only for myself, I would not buy such a game.  I play games precisely because I want a break from experiencing real life in a realistic setting.  I can't see any attraction at all in playing a game that only replicates what I do every day anyway.

[Once In A Blue Moon 894]

I think it could work in a text-based choose-your-own-adventure style where you follow somebody through their life, or some period of it. It would need really excellent writing, and a lot of it, to develop characters (which is what the game would sell on - character interactions) and events that you care about despite being fairly common and unremarkable events. You would also need a lot of branching paths, and so a lot of distinct characters and events, in order to give any semblance of free will or control to the player, and given that it would be a fairly niche title I'm not sure that it would  sell enough to make back on the cost of the content.

[cmarston1 5,953]

To be honest, I would find something like this to be pretty boring, and wouldn't want to bother playing.

[Kyoshi Frost Wolf 40,447]

You know, in a way, we sorta have certain types of Slice of Life games out there, in the form of simulators like the Truck Simulator series and Train Simulator, which I am totally all for by the way. I know that is not exactly what you are meaning but it was a thought I had. 

 

I assume here you are meaning one like ones that are really life realistic and such? Depending on how this was approached, I could find this either really relaxing or really repetitive, which there is a difference in this regard. 

[TheMisterManGuy 344]

You know, in a way, we sorta have certain types of Slice of Life games out there, in the form of simulators like the Truck Simulator series and Train Simulator, which I am totally all for by the way. I know that is not exactly what you are meaning but it was a thought I had. 

 

I assume here you are meaning one like ones that are really life realistic and such? Depending on how this was approached, I could find this either really relaxing or really repetitive, which there is a difference in this regard.

 

Sort of. Basically take something like this

 

https://youtu.be/LSgy8Loi1c8

 

And somehow turn that into a video game.

[Steel Accord 6,658]

@@TheMisterManGuy,

 

Like the Weekenders or other sitcoms? I would doubt it. I do think that you can have a game that takes place in a completely realistic setting, even an average one, with no fantastical elements but shows with that go on their own. A player needs a reason to make the protagonist progress in a game so there needs to be some stakes. They don't need to be apocalyptic or life threatening but there needs to be something to be gained or confronted by the player's input. A better comparison in my mind would be the film Ordinary People and I use a film not a series purposefully. Imagine a game where you play as a teenager who's coming to realize they might be gay and is heavily closeted. You as the player would have to choose who to trust and might discover the people you thought would be the most negative are more supporting than you had initially thought. Or imagine playing as a parent who recently remarried and their spouse already has kids of their own, now you have to try and build a new family unit out of two halves.

 

These have goals and stakes that are personal and emotional and as a video game, we could make choices that have a real impact on lives we know intimately.

[SapphireMoon 7]

I'm studying in game development I could attempt to make a mlp mmorpg using the unreal game engine but i can't promise how fast i could do it, it might take at least a few months at the most, since i would have to import models or make them myself.. i'll see what i can do in the mean time.

[Kimi Vulpine 219]

I'd love something like that that isn't a visual novel or text based game. But I guess not many people want that, it wouldn't sell, blah blah blah.

[powerpuff-tsubasa 447]

i dunno. im not a big fan of "slice of life" series. so i might find these boring