Blog 1----Pascal's Wager and a cruel World
In Critical Play, Mary Flanagan writes that “games carry beliefs within their representation systems and mechanics” [Flanagan_Critical Play]. This means that games do not only tell stories. They also share ideas through rules, punishment, and rewards. Pascal’s Wager is a Chinese action role-playing game that released in 2020. The game is about a dark and cruel world. This feeling comes not only from the story, but also from the game play itself. Through strict systems and hard rules, the game shows that hope and survival in this world always have a real cost.
One important system in Pascal’s Wager is, Its strong punishment for death. When the player dies, they lose real resources. Mistakes are not treated as lessons, but as serious problems. Because of this, players must move slowly and think carefully. The game does not encourage the player to fight all the time. Instead, it often suggests avoiding danger. This system shows that the world is not friendly to the player. Failure is common, and survival is never guaranteed.
The game also includes a sanity system. This system shows the mental state of the character. When the player fights or explores for a long time, sanity slowly goes down. When sanity is low, the character becomes weaker and easier to defeat. This loss cannot be fully avoided, even if the player plays well. Because of this, staying alive means slowly losing strength. The game uses this system to show that hope and courage are not free. They cost energy and mental health.
In many action games such as DIABLO , players become stronger over time and feel like heroes. Pascal’s Wager is different. The main character is always fragile, and enemies are very dangerous. Combat is slow and stressful. Many times, the best choice is not to fight. This design tells players that being alive is not the same as winning. It only means that failure has not happened yet.
Overall, Pascal’s Wager successfully uses its game play systems to share its belief. The game does not tell players that the world is cruel. It makes them feel it through play. However, this design can be too hard for some players. The strong punishment may cause frustration. Still, this problem also matches the game’s message. The game asks players to accept pain, loss, and sacrifice. In this way, Pascal’s Wager clearly shows its idea through mechanics and systems.
Work's Cited Flanagan_critical_play By MIchel Foucault https://www.pascalswager.cn/m/index.html