It Takes Two

It takes two quite literally to play the GOTY award-winning 2021 hit “It takes two”. I love the game for its way it teaches the players how to play the game, but I jumped too far already.

Aloha, lovely person, who probably found this blog by accident. I am happy that you are here because I want to take you along a journey I am undertaking with my girlfriend. I am trying to get her into playing video games with me, and from the perspective of a consultant it's fascinating. Similar to my work, I am engaged with a client I would like to influence and who is struggling with catching the drift, if you know what I mean.

I am a gamer since my father gifted me a personal computer before I even started with first grade. I believe they wanted me to get smarter by gifting me the next level technology on the planet. They somehow succeeded, as I couldn't shake off the joy and interest I have in technology. Anyway, I used the overpriced fun box to play games all day long till my parents sold the computer to some people who I presume used the thing for more reasonable tasks. My hobbies evolved around video games over the years and till today I play them regularly in contrast to my girlfriend. She didn't have my fortune and therefore never developed the same level of skill it takes to play present console games, for instance “It takes two”. This fact holds us back enjoying playing video games together.

So I set my sails for this journey with the goal of upskilling my girlfriend in playing console games till she is as good as I am. Please don't worry, concerned reader, this is all agreed and spoken of with my better half. For that she tries her best in video games, I also will develop a new skill in which I am currently so bad even the simplest task will be blood pressure inducing for me. I will learn how to sew or sing as a duet. The only time I was sewing something was in middle school, and I was so bad I destroyed three different sewing machines. Another hobby of her is singing, and I can say with some pride that I am not completely inept in that regard. She hasn't yet decided what she wants to pick and is currently looking for duet songs.

That's said, in the current state we are both able to enjoy “It takes two” for about 30 ~ 40 min till the frustration takes the best of us. We ended our last sessions, often around the 60-min mark. We spoke about her experience and identified that there is a sweet spot that begins after roughly 10 minutes. It takes her that long to get into the game. Then after the mentioned 30 ~ 40 minutes, exhaustion sets in, the perfectionist in her takes over, and the game loses its fun.

I want to quickly bring up that it was her idea to play video games together, not mine. It was a surprise to me as after some failed attempts letting her play on my PC I had given up. I had totally overestimated the required skill to play on that platform. It made her furious that I had put her through that experience. This time I want to avoid this error, so let's talk about OKR's.

OKR is a methodology used in big enterprise companies. This form of management comes up from time to time on the project I am involved in, and this is a good opportunity to try this out. In it, you will define a goal you want to reach, how you are able to reach it and how you can measure its success. Let's get to it.

OKR 1

• Object: My girlfriend enjoys playing a video game without falling into the frustration pit
• Key Result: She can play longer than 40 minutes and feels constant fun.
• How to get there: I believe she needs to practise with the console controller where she isn't under stress and I have to be careful to not put her under pressure by giving unsolicited advices. Additionally, to that, we need to stop playing immediately when the game becomes frustrating to her to minimize the bad experience.

OKR 2

• Object: My girlfriend can relax while playing a video game
• Key Result: She does not tense up for 10 minutes while playing a game
• How to get there: Support her with tips, Do breaks, Let her enjoy the game how she thinks it fits her play style, Ask for feedback

That's two OKR I can think of for now. I will continue thinking about milestones and skill gates my girlfriend has. I will gather feedback and evolve the strategy.

One success I can see already is that she got better at steering her character/handling the controller. She knows where the keys are and how to manoeuvrer the character over obstacles.