There are certain literary devices and tropes that many writers use in order to build suspense and draw the reader or viewer into the story, hoping that the protagonist is able to overcome the upcoming obstacles. Those devices and tropes are borderline essential for most stories, as they make the story compelling. Without them, the story isn’t grounded in a sense of realism. There aren’t stakes involved.

One such concept is the implementation of anxiety. It’s something that every single human has felt at some point in their lives, as we all have dealt with events that are out of our control. When we see our favorite characters successfully deal with those situations that cause anxiety, it releases the feeling of satisfaction that sits somewhere deep within our hearts and brains. If a writer uses too little of anxiety as a tool, we don’t feel that the stakes are real. It begins to feel contrived. If a writer uses way too much, the story is too intense and we cannot handle what’s about to happen. So how does a writer find that sweet spot of developing a story that induces the right amount of anxiety within a consumer?

That’s the question we sought to answer on this week’s episode of the Chompcast. We felt it apt as we also discussed more of our time with The Last of Us 2. Some of the guys discussed a game the rest of us has never heard of, we nailed the polls similarly to Morgan nailing a, well, nail into a cup of water. We ended the show in our favorite way: showing our love for those who continue to support us and make the show possible, the Patrons.

Times:

Anxiety in Games - 18:46

The Last of Us Part 2 - sort of happens all through the first topic

Polls - 2:01:58

Hardspace: Shipbreaker - 2:13:30

Patreon Poll - 2:30:08

Patron Shoutouts - 2:34:07

Recorded June 26, 2020