Agreeing to Create Bad Games, What the Hell Is ‘Titanfall’? Chapter 30
Zhuangzhuang let out an unwilling roar and rage-quit on the spot.
Liuliu, though laughing loudly, also jumped right back into another round of gameplay.
You had to admit—this game was addictive as h*ll.
At first glance, it might seem extremely simple, both in graphics and mechanics—some might even call it crude.
But that’s exactly why it hooks you. With controls this basic, every failure feels like “just bad luck,” pushing you to start over again, convinced that this time, you’re gonna get a god-tier run!
In essence, this game is just like a pinball machine.
Firing the pinball requires no skill or cost.
All you can do is launch it and watch it bounce through one obstacle after another, falling naturally.
And in that split second when it lands in the score pocket below, you either scream in rage or cheer with excitement.
Flashy effects and a barrage of attack visuals let you feel your power growth in real time—and when you’re mowing down mobs in waves, the sense of release is unreal.
From weak to strong, betting on power-ups, then reverse farming enemies, back to being weak again.
The dynamic difficulty curve keeps raising your dopamine threshold, creating a feedback loop that completely sucks players in!
Each three-choice upgrade or treasure chest drop feels like scratching a lottery ticket—totally unpredictable.
The dopamine keeps flowing, firing off in your brain non-stop. You literally can’t stop playing!
Zhuangzhuang and Liuliu were obsessed.
They started at 8 PM… and played straight through until midnight.
Four hours, nonstop!
Even though the game wasn’t co-op, the two of them, linked by voice chat, made it feel like a multiplayer session.
Mocking each other, comparing weapon builds—totally immersed. Screaming and laughing like kids discovering their first NES back in the day.
This was pure, unfiltered gamer joy.
This was a game built purely to satisfy player cravings.
It was already midnight.
But both of their livestream rooms were still on fire!
Especially Liuliu’s!
"Holy sh*t! Sis is killing it this round!"
"Told ya, gotta main the weapons!"
"This build looks s*per sick now."
"Liuliu's totally got the hang of this."
"Four hours in and I feel like I’ve learned the game just by watching!"
"Wait what, it’s midnight?! I gotta sleep!"
"Sleep your a**! Keep watching!"
"Fine, you convinced me. I’m in."
"?"
"Wait, is she about to lose again?"
"……"
Right then—
Fifteen minutes had passed in-game. According to the rules, surviving thirty minutes meant you cleared the game—halfway done.
The screen was flooded with enemies.
Liuliu was right in the center, dodging nonstop.
She had a level 7 whip, level 6 holy water, level 5 axe, and a maxed-out cross—decent damage output.
But it didn’t matter. The mobs just kept coming—wave after wave like a literal tide.
It was scarier than a horde of Uncle Zhangs and Aunt Lis swarming the supermarket for eggs at 8 AM.
To make it worse, the difficulty just spiked again.
A swarm of green cultists rushed the screen—crazy high HP and damage so big each hit took out half her health bar.
“Aaaaaaah—nooo! Don’t come over here!”
Liuliu was cornered, totally unsure which way to run.
Enemies were pouring in from all directions, covering nearly the whole screen.
“It’s over! Sis is gonna bite the dust!”
On voice, Zhuangzhuang—who was checking in on his sister’s progress—laughed with glee:
“What a shame. That maxed-out weapon’s gonna be wasted—”
And just as he was mocking her—
A mini-elite mob closest to Liuliu got taken out, and it dropped a treasure chest.
“Hold up! Watch me turn this around with one treasure chest!”
Liuliu gritted her teeth, shoved through the monster crowd, and dove for the chest.
Zhuangzhuang just laughed harder: “Sis, stop struggling. Whatever drops outta that chest won’t save you. You’re done for.”
And then!
Liuliu got the chest!
BOOM—!!!
Fireworks erupted as the chest opened, colorful streamers flying—it looked just like a slot machine!
Before, her chests had all just shown one blue ribbon, and within two to three seconds, the result would pop out.
But this time—
The blue ribbon kept spinning for three whole seconds—no sign of stopping!
Was it bugged?
Liuliu paused, about to ask, confused.
Then suddenly—the reward jingle kicked in, blaring with excitement!
DUN! DUN! DUN!
The blue ribbons burst into three purple ribbons flying out of the chest!
“Holy sh*t!!!”
Both Liuliu and Zhuangzhuang were stunned!
“Triple yellow?!”
But that wasn’t even it—
In the next second, the music turned into an 8-bit orchestral explosion!
DUN! DUN! DUN! DUN! DUN!!
The three purple ribbons transformed into five gold ribbons bursting out!
“WAAAAAHHH—FIVE?!”
Liuliu screamed uncontrollably!
The devs definitely knew how to design loot boxes.
No one even knew what the rewards were yet—
But that animation alone was enough to get your heart pounding, anticipation at max.
The chat went wild—
“GOLD?! WTF!!”
“OHHHHHHHH——this is sick!!”
“I’m SHOOK holy sh*t!!”
“This animation is insane LOL”
“Whoever made this clearly has a gambling addiction”
In that moment—
Every eye was glued to the gold ribbons.
Everyone held their breath, waiting to see what dropped.
And finally—
Five rewards appeared on the screen.
Right in the center was a weapon no one had seen before.
A radiant golden sword, gleaming with brilliance!
“WHAT THE F***?!”
Before Liuliu could even react, Zhuangzhuang shouted:
“What the heck is that? A new weapon? It looks badass!!”
Liuliu was stunned, quickly opening her character panel.
“Holy Sword?”
She blinked at the brand-new level 1 weapon.
Then she noticed something horrifying—
“Wait… it ATE my cross?! What the f***!!!”
She was done for.
That cross was her maxed-out weapon!
Great damage, knockback, and had saved her life so many times.
Now this random new sword had swallowed it whole?
Even worse…
“This thing’s only level 1 HAHAHAHAHA!!!”
Zhuangzhuang burst out laughing in the stream:
“LMAO you’re screwed sis! Swapped a level 8 for a level 1—just restart already!”
Hearing her brother’s gleeful cackling and seeing the chat spamming “HAHAHAHA”—
Liuliu felt utterly defeated.
Four whole hours…
And she didn’t even make it halfway through the game’s target time.
She’d been calling the game easy earlier, and now it was her biggest gaming disaster ever.
“Ugh—”
She sighed deeply and closed the gear menu.
All around her, the monster wave closed in.
Cultists brandished knives, skeletons marched like warlords, vampire bats screeched and swarmed.
Liuliu had lost all hope. She let go of the joystick.
But her character on screen kept fighting—swinging the whip, tossing axes.
Like a hero who could be beaten but never broken.
Like herself, facing the daily beatdowns of life yet still greeting the sun with a smile.
Suddenly, a line by Romain Rolland flashed in her mind: “True heroism is loving life even after understanding its truth.”
Maybe the power of games is hidden in these seemingly tiny moments.
Everyone has a hero dream.
In reality, you might never get the chance to be one.
But games—games give you a chance to live that romantic fantasy in a utopia of your own.
Though a thousand stand in my way, I will still charge ahead.
And in that moment—
The Holy Sword descended.