This week, with the topic of metagaming and game modifications, we played Breaksout - a game that contains a slew of different variations of the classic break breaker game. While the normal game mode takes time with the many bricks you have to break, playing in different modified versions of the game changes the pace and mechanics of the game. Breaksout is a great example of a processual game, one that can be changed and played in a variety of different ways. Because of the variety of ways a player can engage with this game, it ties in with the concept of metagaming, as it is a prime example of a game within a game. When you go to the game page, you have the choice between 36 different modified versions of the game, which give the player the flexibility of choosing what they want to play depending on their mood or desire at the time. Some of these game modes also can be paralleled to the games about games aspect of metagaming, as they often parody or allude to different games within Breaksout. This was most notable with the Spaceout game mode, as the game style changes significantly to destroy falling "asteroids" while dodging them with your controlled paddle.
While these different game modes illustrate how the concept of metagaming can vary from game to game, there is little depth in the meaning behind the game. It's not often clear what the point is of Breaksout, as there's no narrative or backstory of how the game got started, and after finishing a level, you just continue on to a new level, which doesn't necessarily add to the complexity or structure of the game. While it was fun to try out the different modes and see how each one was different, I wasn't captivated in each game mode, as the core objective of the game to "break out" by hitting bricks with the ball was the same in most game modes. In this sense, I would consider Breaksout a failure of metagaming, as it didn't encourage me to think about the game's content or mechanics more deeply than a superficial level. On the other hand, a game like Ennuigi seemed a lot more mentally stimulating, since it focused on the lore behind Mario, and what goes on with the characters behind the scene. This game about a game changed the mechanics, play style, and even objective of the game, as the whole point was to wander through the environment and "ruminate" about your place in the world and relationship with Mario. As a result, I thought Ennuigi was more successful at capturing of the concept of metagaming and allowing the player to think more deeply about the game as a whole.
I feel as though the two games derive their meta-ness from two different sources. Ennuigi, as you mentioned, breaks down the story of Mario and its mechanics. As such, it escapes Super Mario Bros. In doing so we get a player-centric commentary on Mario. Ennuigi takes Super Mario Bros to a semi-realism focused ending from the data we were provided, bringing real life into the game world. Breaksout, on the other hand, designs with Breakout! It imagines a series of pasts where Breakout! had a change of heart during development. Whether it be "Brokenout" where the game becomes an endless game of racket ball or "Eoubreakout" which introduces speeches into the background, Breaksout imagines the game one step further into…
I'd argue that Breaksout succeeds at expanding the meaning of Breakout itself. My experience with Breaksout is that each game can be described as, "Breakout with...". Breaksout works by stripping the concept of Breakout, hitting a ball with a paddle to destroy bricks, to its core. When a game in Breaksout fails to meet the exact specifications of the original Breakout, the player still approaches it as if they were playing the original Breakout. But by continuing to engage each game in a similar fashion to the original, even when the rules are clearly not consistent, It shows that Breakout itself can have a deeper meaning as long as the player continues to approach each game as an extension of…