Web3 most often seems to be a race. As soon as you get inside, you feel like you have to get things accomplished. Hook up your wallet, get things done, count your money, go. All this is meant to make you busy at all times. It initially seems thrilling, but after some time it begins to seem like you are constantly running after something.
So Pixels (PIXEL) was a bit different to me.
My initial reaction when opening it was not that high. It was too easy, almost too easy. Farming, hitching, nothing that at all at first strikes the eye. However, having spent a bit of time there, I realized that there was something I do not tend to experience with most Web3 games.
I wasn’t in a rush.
Only playing, at a slow rate. Planting crops, walking around, exploring a bit. And the odd thing was I did not find myself wanting anything. I was not thinking of rewards every minute. It just felt… easy.
I was discussing it with one of my friends later. I inquired of him whether he had tried Pixels, and he answered that he had, but that he had no expectation of lingering long. Then he said to me a curious thing. It feels nothing like other Web3 games, I told myself, opening it to check, but I found myself spending more time than I intended.
I could understand that.
I explained to him the same. It has nothing to do with big features or hype. It is rather a matter of what it is like when you are in the game. You don’t feel pushed. You do not feel that you need to do everything in a hurry. You simply play at your own speed, and it is more or less what the game allows you to do.
Precisely, said he, I had not remembered the time going by.
And, frankly, that was the part that I recalled.
The majority of projects believe that people remain due to rewards. Yet, as far as I am observing, people are staying in their place of comfort. When you chase something and actually enjoy being there is a big difference. And this game is rather like the second one.
The world encourages such a feeling as well. It is not clogged or perplexing. You may walk about without any obvious intention, and it will be all right. It does not seem to be time wasted even when you are not engaged in any meaningful activity. That’s rare.
It continues to operate on systems such as Ronin Network, but has depth beneath the surface in case you want to venture deeper. But that is not thrust upon you by the game. You learn by and by, you learn it your own way.
One thing more I remember my friend saying. He said, I suppose people will come to get a reward, but they would perhaps remain to get the feeling.
And I believe that is all there is to it.
This is not a game that suits everybody. There are those who desire to be fast, quick on the action and thrilled all the time. It is slower, softer and more relaxed. However, to those who are sick and tired of rushing, this comes as a good change.
The quietness of this piece stands out more than it should be in a space where all things are loud and fast.
Ultimately it does not really matter how much you make or how quickly you develop. It is the sense of how it is when there.
And this is easy.