Editor’s note: This post contains spoilers for “Stray” and “Soma.”

When you’re making a game to sell to other people, there are many conflicting pressures. Time and money are like a constantly-tightening vise, and there’s no getting around those, but today I want to talk about expectations and the conflict between art and commerce.

Critics and the loudest parts of the game-playing public often place a lot of importance on attributes that might not actually improve a video game as a piece of work. Something like perceived value and replayability are only relevant from a games-as-product perspective. Worrying about those won’t make your game better, but it could potentially make a meaningful difference to your bottom line.

With those expectations in mind, game designers sometimes end up making baffling decisions that end up harming the overall quality of their project in order to satisfy some perceived deficit. Maybe it’s challenge or length. Maybe it’s variety or sheer number of systems.

More is not always better.

“Stray” is a game that I should theoretically love. You play as an adventurous cat navigating a post-human society populated mostly by robots. That’s about as Grant coded as you can get! My devotion to sad robots is well documented.

And the reality is that I *do* love the game. Well, about two thirds of it. The back third was enough to turn me off completely. Instead of the open world cat simulator we’ve been dealing with for most of the adventure, you’re pushed into some miserable chase and stealth sequences.

I pushed myself to finish, but I ended up with a bad taste in my mouth. “Stray” betrayed what made it compelling in order to feel more like a traditional video game. I’m still bummed out about it.

“Soma” is another example of this same phenomenon. It’s totally up my alley with sad robots and questions about personhood, but falls down with some loathsome stealth moments. In fact, the stealth is such a momentum-killer that it became sincerely hard to recommend even after such a strong opening.

This complaint was widespread enough that Frictional Games eventually shipped a patch for “Soma” that allows you to bypass the stealth mechanic entirely. Thank goodness!

Any additional horror that these moments offered were counterbalanced by how bad it feels to slam on the brakes. To this day, I think it’s the only good way to play “Soma.”

As of publication, “Sword of the Sea” from Giant Squid Studios is about to go live to an adoring public. By all accounts, this is a return to form for the studio that brought us the glorious underwater exploration game “Abzû.”

“The Pathless,” Giant Squid’s sophomore release, had the juice in terms of excellent movement and engaging exploration, but there was a barrier to entry around the bow and arrow. You had to, in effect, get good if you wanted to enjoy the incredible vibes on offer. I’m glad it exists, but the layers of complexity didn’t help make the game better.

I’ll be covering “Sword of the Sea” in the coming days and weeks, so check back soon to hear if it’s been “de-crapped.”

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Image credit: “Stray,” BlueTwelve Studio