Surviving Together: How Multiplayer is Shaking Up Solo Survival Games
As a gamer, I’ve always had a big soft spot for survival games. There is nothing like being dropped into a virtual world where everything is trying to kill you that really gets my blood pumping. Games where, as Christopher Livingston puts it, “The biggest threat to my survival is my own, malfunctioning brain”. For years, I’ve been playing these games solo — just you against the wilderness, armed with nothing but your wits and maybe, if you’re lucky, a pointy stick.
It made sense then for me, as a game developer, to also create an experience like this. During my studies, I worked on a survival game called Arid for a year and released it on Steam (it’s free, by the way — wink wink). But after the release, I realized something important: co-op and multiplayer modes are a big deal for these types of survival games.
I love playing games with friends and after playing a LOT of Lethal Company I can see the importance of multiplayer modes in games. From a game development point of view, it also makes sense to develop for co-op or multiplayer, since it can lead to a bigger group of players being interested in the game. Sounds great, but there are also some downsides to adding multiplayer or co-op to a singleplayer survival game. For one, this development can be very expensive, possibly doubling the development budget. More importantly, this addition can change the core game experience and lead to all sorts of negative results.
Thesis
In my recent Master’s thesis, I decided to take a closer look at the exact changes in this core game experience. I wanted to know how adding multiplayer was affecting the feeling of being alone — something that’s always been a big part of the singleplayer survival experience. To do this, I focused on three games that are fairly popular and recent: Arid (my own baby), The Long Dark, and Green Hell.
After watching a bunch of gameplay videos and interviewing players, I found out that being alone in these games can be a bit of a mixed bag. On the one hand, it can make you feel really immersed in the game world and get you all emotional and reflective. But on the other hand, it can also make you feel pretty lonely and vulnerable, especially when you’re up against some tough challenges. The one surprise from this was that all my participants saw this mix of ‘positive’ and ‘negative’ emotions as a great thing. It made them feel the entire range of emotions that other games couldn’t.
When thinking about this, it doesn’t seem to make sense right away. It’s easiest to understand this with movies as examples. Personally, I’m a sucker for dramatic romcoms (don’t judge me) and in these movies, you always experience some kind of emotional rollercoaster. A better example might be horror movies. Who in their right mind would willingly watch a terrifying movie? Apparently, this is a phenomenon called the “Sad Film Paradox”, where people willingly go through a range of negative emotions for entertainment purposes. This works the same for games, hence why games like The Long Dark or the emotionally moving This War of Mine are so popular.
This experience is where multiplayer changes everything. When you add the option to team up with others, suddenly the game becomes a lot more fun and engaging. You can work together to beat the odds, share resources, and even make new gaming buddies. From my study, participants were more comfortable taking risks when they played with others. They did not feel as many negative emotions (like solitude and stress) in multiplayer. Personally, I’ve annoyed my friends over and over in Green Hell by running straight towards a tiger, resulting in the death of me and at least 2 of my friends (sorry!) simply because I felt more at ease knowing my friends were there to save me. So, multiplayer modes sound great. But, here’s the catch: they can also ruin the ‘alone against the world’, Sad Film Paradox vibe that these survival games are known for.
Future recommendations
So, what does this mean for the future of survival games? Well, based on my research (and personal experience), it seems like game designers are going to have to get pretty clever to keep everyone happy. Some players love the thrill of going solo, while others are all about that multiplayer life. The best games will probably offer something for everyone. Or, they will focus heavily on one core experience and stick to it (Looking at you, The Long Dark).
For us gamers and developers, this study is a reminder that we all play (and create) these games for different reasons. Some of us dive into survival games to get away from it all and prove we can make it on our own. Others just want to share the adventure with friends. Knowing why we play can help us choose (or create) the games that give us the best experience.
As gaming keeps evolving, my research shows that survival games are changing with the times. By looking at how playing alone or with others affects us, we can learn a lot about what makes these games tick. In a genre that’s all about surviving solo, it turns out that sometimes, we’re better off together — and that’s something both players and developers should keep in mind.
So, the next time you’re gearing up for a virtual survival challenge (or even creating one), ask yourself: do you want to go it alone, or do you want to survive with a little help from your friends?
Interested in the full paper? Check it out here!
