Good games don't require suffering

In games

Some games tell you: “The early game is boring, but it gets exciting later.”

Endure the tedious beginner quests.
Endure the repetitive grinding.
Endure until max level to experience the real fun.

But good games never require endurance.

The first mob makes you want to kill the second. Every level-up gives you new skills to play with. Even while grinding, you enjoy the rhythm of combat, the surprise of exploration, the thrill of getting stronger.

The fun isn’t at the destination—it’s in the journey. Beating the final boss feels great, but you spend 99% of your time grinding and fighting mobs.

If grinding isn’t fun, it’s a bad game.

Good games should be enjoyable at every level.

In reality

In real life, we’re always enduring.

Endure high school, and college will be free.
Endure college, and work will pay well.
Endure entry-level, and promotion will be easy.
Endure until retirement, and life will be good.

Then what? You reach the destination, feel happy for two weeks, and start looking for the next thing to endure.

This is called “hedonic adaptation”—humans constantly adapt to the present and chase the next thing.

You spend 99% of your life on the journey, only 1% at the destination. If the journey is all suffering, you’re wasting 99% of your life.

Of course, not everyone can just switch games. Mortgages to pay, kids to raise, responsibilities to carry.

But even if you can’t change the game, you can change how you play it.

Boring job? Treat it as practice—challenge yourself to do it faster and better each day.
Hate commuting? Make it your dedicated time for podcasts and books.
Repetitive chores? Play music and turn it into a relaxation ritual.

Same game, different mindset—completely different experience.

We should all make this crappy game of life more fun.

If you’re suffering, either change the game or change how you play it.

Good games don’t require suffering.

Player notes

I was bored for a while and wanted to recapture the magic of playing StoneAge and Ragnarok Online, so my wife and I tried the highly recommended FF14.

It was all fetch quests and long cutscenes. The game was too easy for me—no challenge at all. People said “it gets fun at level 51.” I thought: if the first 40 levels are this painful, why would I waste my life enduring to level 51?

Work was the same. Watching colleagues several levels above me still playing office politics, taking credit, sucking up to the boss’s boss. Everything they did was for promotion, not for making good products.

This wasn’t a game I wanted to play. So I quit without another job lined up.

Now I build my own apps and write my own books. Every day feels like playing a game I love. Less income, but no more suffering. Because the “grinding” itself is fun now.

Getting into good schools, good companies, marriage, kids, buying a house, financial freedom—every destination I reached turned out to be just okay. Real happiness isn’t at the destination. It’s in the daily grind.

Leveling tips

□ List what you’re currently “enduring”—ask yourself: can you quit it?
□ If you can’t quit, think about how to change your approach to make it fun
□ Gamify boring daily tasks: time challenges, streaks, custom achievements
□ Find one “fun right now” side quest, even if you only have 30 minutes
□ Remember: if happiness only comes at the destination, it usually won’t come at all