A Good Game

What makes a game good? For me, it’s tension — the risk of loss that makes every win matter.

When I played Final Fantasy: Mystic Quest as a teenager, I thought I was in for an epic challenge. Then I lost to a boss and realized the fight simply restarted. No punishment. No stakes. It was like sparring with foam swords — technically a fight, but one that never drew blood.

That moment stuck with me. It taught me that games, like life, need boundaries and consequences to create meaning. Without friction, there’s no fire.

Cozy games have their place — I love them when I want to relax. But when I boot up an RPG, I want risk, failure, and the satisfaction of overcoming both.

So tell me — what tension keeps you coming back?