Almighty Game Designer

Chen Mo was looking through the player discussions and forum hot posts for Plants vs Zombies.

If a new version was released, it would depend on what the players wanted or liked. If he released a version that didn’t cater to the players’ desires, it would be meaningless.

Chen Mo then noticed a woman at the door. She had a ponytail, was wearing jeans, and was dressed pretty neatly overall.

“Zhuo Yao?” Chen Mo managed to recall her name. She was the owner of Fates Internet Cafe, who had come over just after Chen Mo had opened his experience store.

Zhuo Yao was shocked when she looked around the first floor of the experience store. “Wow, I haven’t been around for a month, and your experience store is much livelier than when I was here last! I remember it was completely empty last time!”

Chen Mo replied stiffly, “Of course! It’s not possible to have opened for a month and not have a single person in your internet cafe, right?”

Zhuo Yao answered, “You can’t really compare; is your experience store really the same as an internet cafe? Seems like you’re doing quite well for yourself, there’s so many players here.”

Chen Mo poured her a glass of water while she sat down on the sofa.

“You said you’d be here some other day. Turns out that some other day was a month later!” Chen Mo jested.

“(Sigh) Stop mentioning it. There was so much to do at the internet cafe, so I couldn’t leave,” said Zhuo Yao. “Moreover, I’ve been addicted to this game as of late.”

Chen Mo asked, “Addicted to a game?”

Zhuo Yao nodded, “Yeah, it’s that Plants vs Zombies that became really popular recently. Haven’t you played it? You’re a videogame designer, there’s no way you don’t pay attention to the new games leaderboard.”

Chen Mo said, “Uhh… I’ve played it.”

Zhuo Yao said happily, “I knew it. So what level are you up to for endless mode? I’m up to 97, I’ll pass 100 soon!”

Chen Mo didn’t reply.

Zhuo Yao noticed that Chen Mo was being a bit weird, she assumed that he was embarrassed about his score and consoled him, “It’s alright, I’ll teach you. My strategy is great, guaranteed to cruise through the first fifty levels.”

Chen Mo pointed at a far away computer at a girl playing the game, “She’s already at level 174.”

“Huh?!” Zhuo Yao was shocked. What was the meaning of that?

She stood up to get a better look of the girl. She seemed like a good kid, probably a student from the nearby university. How could she be better than herself, who’s been playing throughout the nights?

-Hold on!-

When Zhuo Yao walked into the store, she hadn’t paid any attention to what people were playing. But she noticed something when she looked at the screens.

Was everyone here playing Plants vs Zombies?

-This is an experience store, and experience stores usually only contain games that belong to the designer. Does that mean…-

Zhuo Yao looked at Chen Mo, “Could it be… you’re the designer of Plants vs Zombies?”

Chen Mo nodded, “Yep, that’s right.”

Zhuo Yao stood there for three seconds and finally realized the implications. “I’m gonna faint! That game was your creation? I was wondering why the logo on the game’s loading screen was so familiar? Turns out I saw it on the door of your store!”

Chen Mo was speechless. “I think there should be a limit of how forgetful someone can be. Your internet cafe is nearby, and you can’t even remember my logo?”

Zhuo Yao was a bit embarrassed, and said after coughing, “About that… You know that we who open internet cafes rarely leave them… Yeah.”

Chen Mo nodded, playing along, “Yep, true.”

Zhuo Yao couldn’t hold back her laughter, “What do you mean, true? Whatever, I won’t argue with you. Teach me the secrets to Plants vs Zombies now!”

Chen Mo was speechless, “Why are you all like this, asking me for secret techniques every time you see me. There are many posts on the forums, go find one there!”

Zhuo Yao rolled her eyes, “Stingy.”

Chen Mo was once again speechless.

-How can everything be tied back to me being stingy? This has nothing to do with me stingy, but you being lazy!-

Zhuo Yao said, “Sigh, but honestly, I didn’t think a new video game designer like you could make a game like that. Unfortunately, mobile games don’t do too much for my internet cafe.”

Chen Mo said, “Don’t worry, I’ll make more standalone games in the future. Also, I forgot to ask, is your internet cafe mainly for PC or VR games?”

Zhuo Yao replied, “PC. I thought about changing to VR, but the capital is too big, and I don’t have that much in terms of funds. Right now PC-centric internet cafes are in an awkward spot, I’ve been struggling for a while now about this matter.”

Chen Mo said, “Yeah, I know. I think the main thing is that PC games are being pressured by VR games, putting them in a difficult situation.”

“Exactly,” Zhuo Yao felt helpless. “VR internet cafes will be the thing of the future, PC internet cafes will probably slowly fall out of favor.”

Chen Mo shook his head, “That might not be the case.”

Zhuo Yao was shocked. “Why?”

Chen Mo said, “It’s simple! The reason PC internet cafes are struggling is because there haven’t been any popular games on PC released recently. What if there was a super popular game that was able to put pressure on VR games?”

Zhuo Yao murmured, “That’s… not likely…”

Chen Mo said, “There isn’t one now doesn’t mean that there won’t be one in the future. Before Plants vs Zombies was released, who would’ve thought that the puzzle game market was so big?”

Zhuo Yao replied after three seconds of thought, “So, are you just praising yourself?”

Chen Mo nodded, “Yep!”

Zhuo Yao was speechless.

Chen Mo said, “That’s the truth! I think you can continue your PC internet cafe. The future isn’t as grim as you think…”