5 games I love playing that got me in UP Diliman
From childhood up to now, gaming plays a huge role in mental development and stress relief.
“Tuknangan mune yan,” “undangi na na,” “tigilan mo na yan,” are what most Filipino gamers hear when they spend too much time on games. It’s because gaming was (and still is) seen as a detrimental factor in a person’s lifestyle.
Other priorities, like health, academics, and work were often neglected in favor of trying to score another win in Dota or Apex; or clearing another dungeon in Genshin.
And I agree. A good few years and a few thousand pesos of my high school life were spent on League of Legends. Seeing people play Valorant, CODM, or ML nowadays, I can relate. But I won’t say that that kind of gaming is productive either, apart from having fun, and growing friendships, of course.
For me, however, those types of games made up only a minority of my gaming life. Don’t get me wrong, I do play them — only if I had friends to play with. Luckily I enjoyed other types of games that I believe made me to what I am today. Games that made me think more critically. Games that got me into UP.
#5: Roblox
A decent chunk of my childhood was spent playing on Roblox. It was absolutely magical. My younger cousins, who are around 3rd or 4th grade as of writing this, love Roblox. I’m sure the impact of the game on them is not shy of the impact of the game on me more than a decade ago.
Yes, more than a decade. Roblox isn’t something new — it was created in 2006 and made kids like me back then creative and curious children. It was basically “digital legos,” and in many ways much more (arguably) technically powerful than Minecraft. You could create your own games, or play games others have made. Not to mention that it was free-to-play.
Notable games I’ve played long ago were tycoon games, sci-fi create-your-own-ship games, and the occasional naval warfare games. These taught elementary school me how to do mathematics, basic programming, and socialization with an international group of kids. I’d credit an enormous amount of my English skills to this game, too.
#4 The Final Fantasy Series
Like Roblox, the FF games are essential ingredients to my childhood. Unlike Roblox however, I’ve been playing them before I played Roblox; and I still play them now.
Now, my arguments here not only serve the FF series but also most other JRPGs: like Chrono Trigger, Fire Emblem, Pokémon, Shin Megami Tensei, among many others.
Before elementary, I played X and X-2 on the Playstation 2. Then V and VI on the GBA. Now, I’ve played through most of the main numbered entries in the series, apart from the ones before IV.
Turn-based RPGs are fundamentally strategy games, as they make you think. They’re basically puzzle games in disguise. What spell would work? What ability should I use? Should I heal now, or later? Playing these games at an early age, I believe, helps a lot with decision-making, since you’re mostly unburdened by the time pressure offered by other real-time games.
In addition, the well-rounded stories these games tell develop a child’s imagination and worldview by a league. The FF series offers child-friendly yet mature epics, with motifs that range from magic and crystals to politics and immortality.
Why is this on #4 though? Well, these games will always be “grindy.” It does improve one’s intellect, but not at an efficient rate. A well-seasoned JRPG player knows far too well that they’re going to grind — playing through hundreds of battles before making any decent progress, which is a bit counter-productive.
For these, I personally recommend playing FFVI and FFIX, to experience the contrasting colors of the FF themes: a dark, steampunk fantasy with VI, and a Disney-like high fantasy with IX. To maximize your tactical experience, FF Tactics is a must-play.
FFX is also great with its charming story (and better strategy). FFXV, however, doesn’t put emphasis on strategic gameplay, since it’s an action RPG, but the fantastic story and graphics still make it worth a play.
#3 Grand strategies
A discovery I made only in my 8th grade with Europa Universalis IV, grand strategies played a big part in maturing my strategic thinking: growing up from deciding on what spells to use against which enemy, to following principles of war, figuring out rudimentary economics, diplomacy, among many others.
With historical grand strategies, you also enjoy knowing what transpired in the past, in the medieval ages with Crusader Kings II, the renaissance with EU4, and the Second World War with Hearts of Iron IV. Not to mention the economically and politically heavy 1800s Victorian era with Victoria II. Apart from re-living these histories, you can also enjoy alternate histories as well: what if the Ottomans failed to siege Constantinople, or if Spain failed to form?
I also enjoy playing sci-fi 4X grand strategies such as Stellaris, where you control an inter-solar dominion, with the same emphasis on economy, diplomacy, and war. I play Stellaris with my friends in sessions that span for a week or two.
Outside the STEM field, grand strategies like these satisfy my hunger for improvement. Critical thinking, decision-making, and asset management are developed when you play games like these, skills that are crucial to everyday life.
#2 Factorio
A quintessential game for almost anyone in the STEM field, Factorio is a game about resource management, production automation, and logistic efficiency. I can’t say I love it enough. Since I started playing Factorio in around tenth grade, I’ve poured around a thousand hours into this game.
The story begins with you crash-landing on an alien planet with nothing but a pickaxe and your engineering wits. Your end goal is to launch a rocket. And that would need hundreds of thousands of raw materials to do. You could do it by hand, but that would probably take real-life years to do. The challenge lies in how you automate the process, and how you scale up your factory.
By default, the game also offers an additional challenge: hostile aliens that try to ruin your plans. You’ll have to build up turrets and play the game like a tower defense game — while growing your factory. Personally, I turn off that feature and fully focus on factory design instead.
You’ll have to design assembly lines, train networks, power generation systems, among many others. The game is highly addictive, and I could remember seeing the actual sunrise the first time I played it in high school.
The game taught me concepts on logistics, like Weber’s least cost theory, and solving network flow problems with train networks. At a lower level, the game is also about computing input and output ratios to achieve a more efficient production line.
I still play the game today. For me, who has launched countless rockets, the challenge lies in base design. What’s nice about it is you could also leave it running in the background, which I do when I study or work. It’s a game about optimization, and the journey to it.
#1 Minecraft (modded)
The final and top game on the list, Minecraft has impacted my life more than any other game, I’d imagine. However, it wasn’t vanilla (unmodded) Minecraft that did, it was the modded versions.
I first stumbled upon Tekkit when I was watching the YOGSCAST series on it. Keep in mind that this was way back in 2012, I was just 6th or 7th grade back then. It was amazing. I couldn’t emphasize how enormous modded Minecraft has improved my scientific thinking.
It first introduced me to how important automation and efficiency were. You could automate smelting, crafting, and even mining. On later modpacks, you could do more with sophisticated power generation systems and assembly lines, like the ones in Feed the Beast. Safe to say that direwolf20’s videos were always on my screen during high school.
It definitely influenced my study and software development habits. When a new mod/modpack comes, I’ll spend hours studying it, which bled into how I study now. Reading entire online wikis, books, and documentation was fun — trying to one-up your friends with this “hidden trick” you found by scouring through material. Much like impressing people with an elegant solution you came up with, in real life.
I still play it today, but not as much as before. It’s a huge time sink, and I don’t have that much time now in college. I would spend half my day just playing the game, trying to endlessly improve my base and production. I remember that I’ve played the modded MC every year at Christmas and New Year’s, apart from last year.
How is this better than Factorio? First off, it’s Minecraft. Minecraft on its own already is very charming and is basically a canvas for one’s imagination. Now, if you add scientific concepts like process automation, computer scripting, resource management, Mendelian genetics, the limits are boundless.
Conclusion
If I said mainstream MOBAs and shooters are harmful, I would be wrong. Games, at the core of them, were made for us to enjoy. To enjoy alone, or with friends, that’s up to you. People like me, enjoy games like these that make you feel like you’re doing an Excel spreadsheet. They‘re definitely an acquired taste.
But what I could say is that these games certainly helped me get to where I am now. These games educated me, and honed skills school would probably skip on. I suggest you do give them a look and try them out. Who knows? Maybe you’ll stumble upon your own set of life-changing games.
