Art and the Mainstream

Image of "The Marriage" by Rod Humble.

Artfulness and mass-market appeal can be looked at as opposing forces. Here are some illustrations of qualities of these two forces.

Creating an artful game:

• Has a specific "point".
  • Anything that doesn't directly support that point is noise.
  • Design by subtraction.
• Is fundamentally self-serving.
  • That is, your work needs to remain true to its intention (even though that intention itself may not be self-serving).
  • Your voice is the loudest; the work represents your opinion or perspective.
• Success is defined by the depth of its communication.
  • Should encourage the player to introspect.
  • At the end of the day, the hope is that it has somehow affected someone.
• The more any given personality likes it, the more another personality will hate it.

Creating a mass-market game:

• Tries to appeal to many personalities.
  • Bolstered by a plethora of minor facets, so everyone can find something they like.
• Can't offend. Mediocrity is the safe route.
• Is fundamentally audience-serving.
  • If the player percieves something to be incorrect or poor, then it is, since you are creating it for them.
  • Your voice is the quietest. The work is a gift to the audience to consume or dispose of as they please.
• Success is defined by the breadth of its communication.
  • As many people should experience it as possible, regardless of what their takeaway is.

You may not agree with every specific point in this list, but for now just focus on the shape of the comparison. When I say these are opposing forces, I mean that it is challenging to serve both these goals at the same time.

The very qualities of an artful work tend to make it hard for the mass-market to accept, and the very qualities of a mass-market game tend to destroy or occlude it's artful elements.

It's definitely possible to create something that is both, but at any given moment on a project, it's prudent to know which of these goals is more important to you, to ensure that you aren't focusing on elements of the work that are wasting your energy and diluting your purpose.