Tetris Effect Testimonies

For me, it's currently Audiosurf. At other times, it's been Civ IV, Alpha Centauri, and especially Creatures and The Sims.

The Football Manager series of games are notorious for this in the UK. It is possible to lose weeks trying to guide a team up the league system, erning it the affectionate nicknames "king of the spreadsheets" and "the Widowmaker".

The only way the Tetris Effect usually strikes me is with the music from the game playing around my head all day long. And images of stuff swirling around in my head. But rarely does it actually get into my real-life behavior. Maybe that's just because I've played very few first-person games.

However, sometimes more happens. I have sometimes daydreamed about how much faster and more fun it'd be to get to class if I had a speed booster like Samus's—or, better yet, if I could shinespark like her. Several years back, I also paid attention to what locations around me would make nice and/or interesting Pokémon gyms. Got a tall, narrow shaft? Make it a vertical battleground for flying (or wall-clinging) Pokémon!

As a sidenote: at full force, the Tetris Effect is known simply as "addiction".

I've experienced this with my mum's games. She liked puzzle games and I like to randomly watch her play those.

Thus, after a very engaging session of Kahuna Reef, I closed my eyes and all these shells and stuff were floating in my mental eye... It's happened with other puzzle games, too. Very weird.

I've had it with Pokemon games as well, which I play more frequently. In my Pokemon-obsessed times (usually when a new game comes out), all I can think about is Pokemon fanfics, Pokemon games and Pokemon.

Glenn Magus Harvey wrote:

Yeah that just happened to me with "Bloody Tears" from Castlevania II.

Listening to it right now in fact

Of all the Square games to get hooked on, I got addicted to Einhander.

A shoot-em-up.

But it's not just a "twitch" game. Three basic fighters to choose, twelve weapon types, enemies that can be killed or disabled in so many variations, and finite ammo supplies that encourage you to think tactically instead of shooting everything in sight.

Took me months of practice just to get to the end, and even now I still shout "YES!" every time I defeat the final boss.

The twist I liked best was developing tactics based on your choice of fighter and the weapons available. Switching from the Boring, but Practical fighter to the Guns Akimbo version, I was surprised to find that two weapons that seemed useless individually (the lightning-firing Riot and the shotgun-like Spreader) were devastating when wielded simultaneously.

Dwarf Fortress. So very, very much.

Just last night, I started a new fort at about 10:30, and then I come across a magma pipe so I can start forging things, and ooh, there's a chasm, time to send my military in for a few easy levels, and "oh, hey, merchants, but they're having trouble getting past the antmen, so I gotta start an epic walling-off project to keep the chasm-monsters from getting out, and oh sweet monkeys I can see the sun rising and I have to be at work by 8:30 aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Yeah, it's kind of like that.

edited Mon, 20 Oct 2008 11:39:26 by Theoneknownasme

Oy vey. You know how I said I was addicted to Civilization IV a few months ago? Well, it's back. With a vengeance. I seriously need help.

Also, Mansa Musa is a backstabbing bastard. The blood of Mali shall colour the seas red for his actions!

Hmm. The musical version of the Tetris Effect strikes me in almost every game, as most games have some enjoyable tune I can listen to. However, the other versions of the Tetris Effect... Donkey Kong 64. I played that for days, weeks, MONTHS! Years, I think, even. I sucked at gaming back then, and the game is super-long. (I still haven't beat it 100%). And I was obsessed about it all the time. Though later I added Golden Eye to my list. I still think of DK 64 as the ultimate game eperience for me, though Super Mario World and SMB 3 did well. And Mega Man Battle Network 3.

Raidou Kuzunoha Vs The Soulless Army.

If I'm not playing it, I'm writing my Fan Fic. If I'm not writing my Fan Fic, I'm doing dialogue/character exercises for writing the Fan Fic.

...

...Man, it's gonna feel weird when I'm done writing. Been doing this for what, a year now? Geez...

The biggest Tetris Effect I ever had was Pokemon Gold, along with most of the other ten-year olds in the early 2000s. But for the most part, it's any Bio Ware RPG: Neverwinter Nights 2, KOTOR, Jade Empire (my Xbox isn't working, waaah).

I played Jeanne D'Arc and Fate Stay Night back to back. I spent an entire weekend thinking up wacky magical- realist pseudo- historical hijinks.

On my defense, Don Quixote would be a pretty badassed and hilarious Rider.

V.A.T.S. I saw a mosquito, finger twitched. Time failed to slow down. Remembered I was in Vermont, not Capitol Wasteland. Felt stupid.

I don't get this very much, but Command And Conquer: Red Alert was a significant exception. I'd wake up with "Hell March" playing in my head for weeks after finishing the game.

Definitely Pokemon.

Also, roleplaying can do this to me.

I've been playing Iji a lot recently. (as you can see from my avatar)

I regret nothing!

For me, any game above a certain minimum threshold of quality will elicit this to some degree, more or less depending on how approachable it is (difficult games you can put down for longer), until I beat it once. Most recent I just finished a few days ago, Exit Fate. Gotta catch recruit 'em all! And of course get to the bottom of the plot. There's still more to see, and I've only got most of the characters, but there's no more pressing need to keep going now that the plot's been finished (and some of the later characters are pretty stupid anyways—what was the deal with Shadfork and Tong Wu? Marcello? Am I supposed to care about these guys? I made a point of sticking to the party members who had a legitimate sidequest devoted to making them mean something and I'd earned them, but of course you gotta get everybody since you never know who'll give you a bonus in War Battles). The endgame was kinda disappointing; I got to Muspelheim and did Luther's sidequest before the library, which was very difficult partly since I had to win at least one battle with an underleveled party before I could get a foothold. I suppose that must've put me a few levels ahead for the library itself, but the rest of the game was a joke after that; the demon commandos were a blast and the final boss and final war battle were suitable, but everything else (including at least six intermediate bosses) was practically made out of tissue paper with all the MP I had, so I could make ridiculously sloppy mistakes without even being mildly punished for it. And I didn't even realize the final war battle or the final dungeon were final until the final boss was right in front of me. But there was still no way I could've put it down, even if I'd known I would be disappointed.

First, whenever I watch a podcast, I have the primal urge to go and play tetris (I go to a free website without any stupid music) or solitaire. It gives my fingers something to do, I guess.

As for the tetris effect, the Civilization games and Alpha Centauri are it. Currently, I been on a Rise of Nations bender, where I feel like I have to play the game ...

On the consoles, I remember firing up the old N64 to play Golden Eye or Perfect Dark, just on the fly.

When Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow came out I bought a copy and my friend bought a couple more. We used to LAN at his house and since him and I were the best we'd generally be on opposite teams. I really enjoyed the multiplayer and began to know the maps like the back of my hand.

Anyways, as a spy my friend ALWAYS had sticky cams in his inventory, and he used them on me. A LOT. For those that don't know, sticky cams are tiny cameras fired from a launcher on the spy's gun that adhere to any surface. Once stuck, a spy can check what his camera sees at any time, including looking left/right/up/down, zooming, and thermal and night vision. The sticky cam also comes with knock-out gas that works in close proximity.

Now, sticky cams are very tiny and hard to spot in the generally dark levels. My friend got good at putting them just around corners so I wouldn't even have a chance to scout before being put to sleep. They did have ONE downfall. Any time you moved the camera or zoomed that camera's motors were audible.

That sound haunted me. I actually started hearing it in class and it always put me on high alert. There were no sticky cameras around me in real life so it just made me unnecessarily paranoid. :(

Everytime i climb stairs at random places, be it work, school or elsewhere, i always hear Bloody Tears

The original Pokemon Red and Blue versions did this to me. I would sneak my gameboy into school and play at lunch. I'd play at night. In the backyard! When I wasn't playing the music haunted me...It was Pokemania.

Then I got over it. But you see I met the videogame equivalent to crack. It really did follow me everywhere in every form I can imagine. It was in my dreams, my day dreams, my not day dreams! When I'd quit I'd want to play some more...It truly is a drug of some kind. It even costs money to keep getting it!

I also had this breifly with the first Digimon Adventure. I'd leave to go do something else and think of my Digimon, what he was doing, how he got sick recently, where he was...The noises the Digimon and character made would be in my head as some strange form of ear worm too. That hard to make out "Oyasumi." was the most persistant for some reason.

Miijhal's post made me remember what happened when I got Fire Emblem 8. I set out on a crusade to get all the supports and 20/20 all my characters every time I bet the game. I also planned to do this on hard mode....Many days of my life were wasted grinding in the Tower of Valni or thinking of what support combinations would make my goal go by faster.

edited 26th Jul '09 11:41:51 AM by Aondeug

Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions.

I spent about half a week long vacation in North Carolina leveling up an ridiculously overpowered army.

Ramza was a Dark Knight, Balthier was a Ninja with a speed stat of 16 or so, and I had a Black Mage with with the Calculator job mastered and holy. My team became so overpowered that I killed all the forms of the last boss with it only getting one turn.

edited 26th Jul '09 11:38:45 AM by Miijhal

This many posts in and no one's tried an Al-Anon parody yet? I am astonished.

Hi everyone. My name is RT...and I am a Chrono Trigger addict.

"Hi, RT."

I've been clean for two years now. My last bad outbreak was when I decided that I could load up a clean rom for, oh, the fifth time, and see if I could get all ten major variations on the ending in a single week. Well, I gave it a shot and I...I...*starts sobbing*

edited 26th Jul '09 12:25:08 PM by RadicalTaoist

World of Warcraft. 'nuff said. Especially when my guild raids Naxxramas, well there goes my Thursday night...

Some of the 3D Grand Theft Auto games have had me way too immersed in, and then having trouble not treating the real world as GTA. One has to be very careful about one's driving. Or in how one behaves in crowds.

Too much World Of Warcraft and I catch my mind always thinking about whether people are within 30 yards' ranged combat range.