Has playing this game for – presumably – hours on end helped them to develop heightened reaction times and better peripheral vision that would make them, for instance, a better, more alert driver. So, I wonder if their commitment to Super Hexagon has paid off in other areas of their life. However long it has taken, this individual has clearly developed split-second sharp reaction times when playing ‘Super Hexagon’. Malcolm Gladwell – that makes someone a master of their class. The relatively recent release date means that it can’t be close to the 10 000 hours of practice – suggested by I can only speculate how long this person has played to get to this level of proficiency. However, I also chanced upon this video of someone completing the game with a finesse that seems utterly unobtainable. Pretty soon after realising I was finding the game ridiculously hard I searched the internet to find if it was just me who performed so pathetically badly. Can getting good at a single game provide an individual with any valuable transferrable skills or experience? Unless, maybe, the value of mastering such a game extends beyond the confines of the game itself. And I don’t think I’m prepared to give hours of my time to mastering a iPhone-based puzzle game. However, getting better at such a challenging game can’t happen in a short space of time – in fact, it would probably take hours – if not days – of practice. So, in a way, a game that only requires short bursts of commitment should suit me. I often feel I’m in danger of missing out on something, and therefore end up doing nothing.
Given any amount of free time, I sometimes find it difficult to commit to any sustained period of activity – I’ll often flit between reading, listening to music, watching a few minutes of a film, without giving any task my full, undivided attention. I’m fully aware that my attention span can be rather small. I’ve only been playing it on-and-off for the last few days but it has prompted me to think about the nature of game-based challenge and commitment. My current best time is a pathetic 18 seconds.
It also features some brilliant 8-bit music. If you last for a whole minute you get to move to the next level. You have to avoid inwardly moving lines by moving clockwise or anti-clockwise. The idea is simple – you are a small triangle.
It’s probably the hardest game I have ever played – I don’t think I’ve ever heard the words ‘Game Over’ so often in such a short space of time. I’ve been playing a game on my iPhone called Super Hexagon.