You can make every multiplayer game better with a little bit of role-play

You can’t really talk about video games as a medium without talking about the concept of role-play. Role-play, which I would generally define as the act of creating a character and acting as if you are that character, is fundamental to the history of video games. Whether it’s playing RPG adventures solo or joining online communities, assuming the role of a new character has always been a large part of games. 

Despite these connections, I never really saw myself as the kind of person who’d be into role-play. I struggled with creating compelling, original characters in RPGs like Skyrim. I guess I was always the type to just try and make a character that reminded me of myself. But after decades of playing video games, I’m finally learning that a little bit of role-play is the perfect way to bring new life to games I play online with friends.  

It all started when I played the multiplayer horror comedy game Lethal Company with my family. In this game, you and up to three other people can team up online and work for an elusive enterprise that forces you and your team to earn money by exploring and looting monster-filled facilities. 

The first time I got a regular group of players together, I was the only person who knew how to play. At the start I showed people the general ropes of how to play, but it became clear that I was the only one who could work the ship computer. Because of this, I ended up staying behind in the relatively safe spot of the ship and helped guide everyone from afar as people fought spider-like monsters with clown horns and fell down industrialized chasms. 

I developed a specialized role and from there, it snowballed into a joke that my character just wasn’t willing to do the hard work and just wanted a cushy management job. It started as a one-off joke: I said I was the new boss named Caretin, a name I thought sounded like a cutesy version of Karen. Caretin started to become even bossier and unilaterally implemented new workplace policies. 

She started a mandatory employee bonding and morale exercise that forced everyone to sing the company theme song between every job and also forced the team to buy a boombox for her entertainment on the ship. When the threat of monsters was high, she forced people to venture out regardless and would gladly clean up the scraps left behind by the dead bodies. She was pretty ruthless.