Grinding in Video Games and Real Life
What is grind in video games?
Grind is a process of slowly getting valuable resources (be it experience points or loot) by repetitive and often simple tasks in video games. It has been present from the beginning of gaming but has become more widespread with the popularization of online RPG games because of their leveling systems and competitive elements.
It is highly criticized by gamers around the world for making games boring and work-like, yet many people specifically choose to play grind-heavy games. The reason might be because they find simple repetitive tasks relaxing and distracting from real-life problems, as a form of escapism.
However, there is also a gameplay reason for grinding: getting valuable resources early can make a game easier later. Some popular games like Diablo are even centered around grind. Thus, everyone will have to grind at some point to prevent gameplay from getting too difficult, which quickly becomes an inescapable habit. Later, gamers might apply grinding even to games that do not require it. Interestingly enough, grinding early on can also make the late-game boring because it is going to be too easy if the game was not designed for grinding. For example, in Subnautica, getting a lot of resources early on will make some of the late-game tools useless because all the resources that could have been gained with them have already been gained.
From the example above, we can see that grind does not always improve the gameplay. We can also see that it is not always a necessary process and can be either minimized or avoided entirely: sometimes, the need for it exists only in our mind, forcing us to diminish the fun of actually playing the game. Is it just a question of habit or is there any other reason for us to grind?
Why do we do it?
Let’s outline the three reasons we have mentioned above: relaxation, habit, and risk minimization (where risk is a combination of the likelihood of failure and consequences of failure). Using these reasons, grind can also be classified into three categories: distractive grind, automatic grind (habitual or natural grind), and risk-minimization grind.
We have already mentioned that distractive grind is done to escape from everyday problems. Although it looks like the other types of grind on the surface (killing monsters, looking for loot, gathering resources), it has a different goal: a regular video game grind is done as a preparation for another task, while distractive grind is independent of any other tasks and is done to change focus from real life to some simple repetitive task. In fact, it perfectly fits the criteria of escapism — a distraction from unpleasant reality, especially by seeking entertainment or engaging in fantasy — both in its goals and approaches. A process of distracting from stressful situations is not problematic in and of itself because it can either be a mechanism of coping with stress or a method of procrastination. A coping mechanism is generally not a bad thing and a method of procrastination is only a symptom of a problem, not its source. Hence it is ultimately a different process that simply shares similarities with the other types. It is closer to video games themselves because of them also being a form of escapism which might be why some video games are built entirely around grind. However, analyzing its effects would be equivalent to analyzing the effects of video games, which is outside of the scope of this post so we will mostly ignore distractive grind later.
Automatic grind has the same goals as the risk-minimizing grind. The only difference is that automatic grind is an unconscious reaction. Recent studies support the notion that intuition and habits can help someone make rational decisions based on prior experience but much faster than using logic. It means our automatic responses (habits) are simply logical conclusions made by our unconscious and automated for more effective use. Hence its reason (risk-minimization) and effects (decreased efficiency at the beginning of the task and decreased risk at the end of the task) are the same because they share the same goal and process. For example, one might have learned to excessively grind in Diablo and did it out of habit in Subnautica. Thus, both risk-minimizing and automatic grind are essentially the same thing so we will not distinguish between them later on.
Grind as a risk minimization technique is quite logical in high-risk situations such as the final boss in video games mentioned above or in rogue-like games where failure means losing all progress. However, it can make the entire task extremely boring if applied excessively, especially when risks are overestimated like in the Subnautica example. People apply this kind of grind even in games and situations not designed for it and so it is important to find out why. It can either be an evolutionary mechanism, a personality trait, a habit from prior experience, or a combination of them all.
As an evolutionary mechanism, allocating more time to prepare for solving most problems (similar to grinding before facing the final boss to get stronger) made sense before humans lived in a safe society because the risks for most actions were high and failure could easily result in death. However, there is no guarantee that the tendency or enjoyment for grind has developed as an evolutionary mechanism.
It is also likely that our modern culture, especially academical, is influencing people to adopt perfectionist and atychiphobic tendencies, both of which force people to overestimate risks. It could explain why many gamers choose to grind even without prior experience with grind in video games.
How does it affect our day-to-day life?
Games have always been an exaggerated parody of real-life so it’s not surprising that we tend to grind outside of gaming. But real life does not have any loot to find or monsters to hunt, so let’s generalize the definition of risk-minimizing grind first to help us apply it to real life: it’s a process of postponing the task to take time to prepare for it. For example, we might postpone fighting a boss to earn enough experience or gear. We can see examples of this process whenever risks are estimated to be high.
Situations with appropriate grind
When one needs to design an online service that is secure from hacking attacks and the costs of the service are counted in millions of dollars, the financial risks are high. It means that the programmers will carefully analyze the situation, read about the necessary protocols, encryption algorithms, widely-known attacks, and defense from them before starting the implementation, i.e. postpone creating the service to gain all knowledge necessary to make it secure. In this case, grind can be the most logical solution because it can minimize the financial risks.
When one needs to prepare for a final exam that does not allow retakes or practice problems available, one will have to grind by reading the textbook, studying notes, and watching online lectures because these are the only available preparation strategies. In this case, grind is the most logical solution because the risks are high and there is no way to practice or learn from mistakes.
Situations with excess grind
When one needs to finish the homework at school or university, one might decide that it is going to be easier to do if he knows all of the necessary theory beforehand. So one will read the related chapters from the book or watch online lectures before starting the homework. In this case, grind is not the most logical solution because the price of making a mistake in the homework is rather low, and the homework can be checked against the book or online resources after it’s done. Doing it once might not be problematic but consistently applying grind for homework can drain the energy from the person and make him spend more time than necessary on topics he will not use in the homework. The problem stems not necessarily from the fact that homework is a low-risk task but from the fact that there are too many similar low-risk tasks in real life. Even homework is assigned regularly so it alone can drain enough energy to make one disinterested in studying altogether, just like boring grind can ruin almost any game.
When one is behind on one or a few of his classes and has time to study for them, one might postpone doing assignments to catch up to the content. It sounds like a logical solution but without getting results for the work (results being the actual task being worked on and parts of it finished), it can quickly tire the person out and force him to procrastinate, which can greatly extend the grinding period and make the learning process a lot less effective. In the worst-case scenario, one might get even more behind as a result. It can lead to grinding in every single class and ultimately getting into the cycle of always working and procrastinating, never resting but also never getting any results. Many of my friends and I have gotten into this situation as a result of excessively applying grind.
When one wants to learn programming for the first time and buys a textbook on it. He might spend weeks reading it but never actually getting to work. In the case of programming, it is quite rare to work like this. Usually, programmers begin prototyping before they learn anything for the task, only looking up resources when they are actually necessary. Otherwise, one will fall into the abyss of knowledge necessary for writing better programs but entirely unnecessary to write the simplest programs. Understanding programming without tons of practice is impossible, which is why most online programming courses (Codecademy, udemy, etc) are centered around practice. A similar effect can be reached if a more experienced programmer tries to begin working with new technology by reading most (or all) of the documentation. All interest will be lost in the process, and procrastination will kick in very quickly. Especially with calendars…
When one has never worked out and tries to start: one might try to learn as much as he possibly can about exercises, weights, and muscles before he begins practicing, which can result in him completely abandoning the original task due to the sheer amount and complexity of knowledge he tries to learn. Simply googling the recommended beginner workout and reading a short protocol on safety, one can start practicing in no time, after which all necessary knowledge will be easier to learn.
When one is learning a new (human) language and tries to begin by memorizing theory or excessive vocabulary. For example, simply buying a textbook on grammar and trying to study using it is the most grindy thing one can do. Of course, simply memorizing some vocabulary and trying to watch movies is also ineffective. The more effective way would be learning only the most necessary basics, supplying it with some simple vocabulary-learning app like Duolingo, and practicing as much as possible with native speakers, italki, tutors, or alternative resources. The most effective path, of course, would be using it in context. So even though grinding is the most obvious thing to do, even its simplest forms are completely ineffective for language learning.
The fact that grinding must be avoided in the examples above might seem obvious, yet too many people I know have fallen into unnecessary grinding in similar situations. The problem is that people do not generalize the conclusions about grinding. For example, when one knows that excess preparation is not necessary to start working out, he might not apply the same strategy to learning programming because he does not have as much confidence in it.
As a result, if risks are overestimated, people can start grinding and make the entire process ineffective and boring, which can lead to hundreds of hours procrastinated and anxiety disorders developed. Of course, perfectionists are more vulnerable to grinding as we have mentioned above but no one is truly safe from it because habitual overestimation of risks can easily be learned from the environment. Similar to video games, real-life will often require grinding. However constantly relying on it will drain the energy even from the most motivated people out there.
What can we do to prevent it?
First, it is important to say that risk-minimizing grind is not the same thing as procrastination. It can be a source of procrastination but never the result of it. Also, tot every simple repetitive process is necessarily the problematic risk-minimization grind and not every risk-minimizing grind is a simple process. Some simple repetitive processes are the escapist grind, and others can hardly be compared to video game grind at all. Finally, it is important to understand that the simple advice of starting small is usually not enough to solve the problem — even people following it can still grind because grinding is not about the amount of work but about the order we do it in.
In programming, we have a concept called lazy evaluation. In simple terms, it is a process in which a program does not do all of the work at once and only does what is required of it at the moment, postponing any unnecessary calculations for later. For example, when we open Youtube’s home page, it shows us some recommendations. Then we scroll and it shows us more. Youtube does not load all recommendations at once. It only loads a small number at first and loads more when the user scrolls down. This way, the program postpones its work until more recommendations are absolutely necessary. If Youtube did not do this, loading its home page would either be extremely hard or entirely impossible. If we apply the same strategy to working out, the only things we need to grind are safety protocols and the most basic exercises. The learning of other, more specialized facts and procedures, can be postponed until they become indispensable. The same applies to schoolwork: only learn the topics absolutely required to complete the current task and only learn them as you are working on the task, even if you still lack the prerequisites at the moment. The general approach is to assess the risks of making a mistake during the task, and if they are low — immediately begin working on the task, postponing all preparation until it is necessary. In simple terms, high risk requires postponing work until you are ready, and low risk requires postponing preparation until you need to learn something to complete a part of the work.
It can be tricky at first, but most of the time only some specific pieces of prior knowledge are required to solve new problems. Programmers do that all the time: they do not learn everything about websites before creating one. As mentioned before, they start with the simplest prototype using their prior knowledge and only google things they need at the moment to implement the next small piece of functionality. This strategy prioritizes practice which is a proven most effective way to learn. It allows us to get results early; And constantly earning small rewards is an essential part of staying motivated for work, which is exactly why video games can be so fun — they keep rewarding us for our effort, making us as addicted to the gameplay as mice in the Skinner box.
This strategy has also proved to be effective in education. For example, why do we learn physics three to four times from the beginning of school until the end of our bachelor’s degree? We might start learning it in middle school with simple factual laws and minimalistic formulas. In high school physics, we apply all we know from elementary algebra and trigonometry. Then we apply calculus to understand the same concepts but at a much deeper level. And finally, if we pursue a technical degree, we might take physics again but with applications of various forms of mathematical analysis and abstract algebra. This general path is applied all over the world to teach physics for a reason: it is one of the most effective ways to keep students at least moderately interested and help them understand concepts that seem too complex if tackled for the first time. So if there is any general strategy for learning anything without giving up early — it’s lazy evaluation!
Of course, this process is not perfect. It creates the so-called knowledge debt — a knowledge we would have gotten if we have learned the entire topic. It can be necessary later on but we sacrifice it for early rewards. However, we must still consider the knowledge debt every time we apply lazy evaluation because otherwise, we will end up with a large number of small pieces of unstructured knowledge that we will not be able to apply effectively. Yet addressing the knowledge debt is much easier after we have already studied some of the topic and its applications because we know exactly why we need the topic (gives motivation) and we already understand some of it (decreases difficulty). For example, if the topic is the prerequisite for a concept we were trying to learn, then this concept is the application of that topic.
TL;DR
Grind is a process of doing more boring and repetitive tasks first, which is necessary for some situations in video games to make the later gameplay easier but will make them boring if applied excessively. The same goes for real life: if you try to prepare too much for solving any problem, you might lose interest in solving it altogether even before starting it. To combat this, apply lazy evaluation — doing and learning only the indispensable parts of the problem at the moment of solving it. As a result, you will accumulate some knowledge debt — everything you have not learned about the topic. It can bite you in the ass later, but if you can deal with the knowledge debt in a timely manner, lazy evaluation is one of the most effective ways of reaching any task.
By the way, this TLDR can also serve as an example of lazy evaluation. Reading the entire article consumes time and focus but TLDR will suffice if you do not need all the extra details at the moment.
