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‘It’s impossible to play for more than 30 minutes without feeling I’m about to die’: lawn-mowing games uncut

www.theguardian.com ‘It’s impossible to play for more than 30 minutes without feeling I’m about to die’: lawn-mowing games uncut

Lawn Mowing Simulator joins a long line of popular simulation games of real-life activities. But why trim fake grass? We ask some cutting-edge experts

‘It’s impossible to play for more than 30 minutes without feeling I’m about to die’: lawn-mowing games uncut

Rich Pelley on lawn mowing games.

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2 comments
  • "Your brain can’t accept that you’re moving in the game while in real life you’re staying still. It made it impossible to play for more than 30 minutes without feeling like I was about to die." he says. But otherwise, he liked it.

    I.E. Standard VR struggles, would happen in every other locomotive type VR games

  • This is the best summary I could come up with:


    Written as an April fool joke by writer Duncan MacDonald, it mocked all the Jet Bike, BMX and Grand Prix simulators by budget game house Codemasters.

    “Humans are intrinsically motivated when activities satisfy our need for competence (sense of progression), autonomy (self-expression and meaningful choices), and relatedness (cooperating/competing with others).

    While there is no definitive answer as to why people are attracted to simulators, we have multiple theories – sense of control, progression, satisfaction to earn rewards – that can give us a framework to understand.”

    With my shoddy investigation into the history of the lawnmower game almost over, I decided it was time for my own “expert” take on what it’s actually like to play Lawn Mowing Simulator.

    I agree with simulation-game critic Duro that “repetitive tasks allow you to enter into a zen-like state”, even though it hurt my arms and I had to keep stopping to empty the cuttings in the bin.

    Sadly though, I lacked the “extrinsic motivation that makes us do something we don’t care about for the reward of getting paid”, suggested by Hodent, my psychologist, because I forget to ask my neighbours for any money.


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