Browser based: Sissy Fights
Sissy Fight is a browser based mmog where you go head-to-head with other players on a virtual playground. Sissy Fight is an extremely simple game that takes little time to set up or play. Once I registered I got to choose which playground I wanted to play on (meaning which server). Once in a playground you customize your own girl by selecting her face shape, hair style and color, and skin color. These allows everyone to personalize their player but the number of options is not overwhelming so after a game or two you’ve seen just about every variation of character.
Once you’ve customized your character you are taken to “home room” which is basically the lobby where you can choose from a number of options such as Join game, Help, Dressing room, and also chat. Everyone in the lobby has the option to chat, and in my experience people will chat on just about anything. If you click on the “JOIN” button it will take you into a random game which is the virtual playground.
One you have joined a game you have the option to chat with the other players or indicate that you are ready to play. There can be from three to six players in a game, each with their name displayed and a chat box over their heads which displays anything they say. The game is turn based so each turn you must choose which action you want to do to which player, the actions include: scratch, grab, cower, lick your lolly, tattle on everyone, or tease. The game is similar to rock, paper, scissors in that the success of your action is based on what the other players chose to do. Each player starts with 10 points and gains/loses points each turn, when there are only two players left the game is over.
From my experience there is very little skill involved in this game. The first few turns of the game it is strictly about choosing a random action and watching what others do. Once a few turns have gone by you can get a feel for what type of player the others are (passive, aggressive, unpredictable) and you can try to base your actions on what you think they might do, however, this is very difficult to do successfully.
I found this game to be pretty boring and quite pointless but for some reason there is always enough people online that want to play. I asked people why they play the game and most responded that they had nothing better to do and it helped to pass the time, and a few others said that it “lets me be a bitch” which I thought was pretty funny. Based on the reading I think that this game fits into a few categories of “why we play”. As far as Hard fun goes, if you put enough thought and strategy into the game you will win more often then the person who makes random actions each turn, this seems to qualify as “requiring strategy rather than luck”. It fits into the Easy fun category in the personalization of the character; you get the opportunity to feel like you and your character are one. Most of all I think that it satisfies and Altered State by avoiding boredom; this is what most people said they were doing and it is the only reason that I can see playing this game. Lastly it works as a People Factor, it gives people a chance to interact with others, and talk about basically anything they want, I think that a lot of people play the game for this reason rather then the actually playing of the game.