The Antidote to Boredom is "Inefficiency": My Arknights Experiment.
To find joy, sometimes you have to break the “Meta.”
Hello everyone. Today, I want to talk about a slightly unusual challenge I’ve decided to undertake.
In our daily lives and businesses, we are obsessed with “efficiency” and “optimization.” We trim the fat, seek the shortest path, and aim for the best results with the least effort. In the real world, this is undoubtedly a virtue.
However, in the realm of “Play,” efficiency can be a lethal poison.
Checking a wiki, copying the strongest team composition, and letting the auto-battle clear the stage... Where is the player’s agency in that? To me, that feels like chewing on gum that has long lost its flavor. It’s a passive consumption of time, not an experience.
My brain, prone to boredom as it is, was craving something else. I needed “intellectual friction.” I wanted the thrill of solving a puzzle that pushes back.
The Arknights Solution: A Binding Oath
To satisfy this craving, I turned to the tower defense masterpiece, Arknights. But simply playing it wouldn’t be enough. To prevent myself from getting bored, I cast a few “curses” (rules) upon my gameplay.
I call it the “Pact of Fate.”
Absolute Loyalty: In every single battle, I must deploy the character “Saria.” If she falls, I fail.
The Lonely Apex: Saria is the only 6-star (highest rarity) operator allowed.
Closed Circle: No “Support Units” from friends. I must win with my own resources.
Out of the light of the gacha system came Saria—a “Guardian” who offers ironclad defense and healing. But here is the catch: She is a shield, not a spear. She cannot annihilate enemies on her own. While she holds the line, I must figure out how to use my squad of “ordinary” (low-rarity) operators to secure the victory.
This is no longer just a game. It is a Thought Experiment: How do you solve unreasonable problems with limited resources?
Will You Be an Observer?
In this newsletter (and on my blog), I will be documenting this documentary of struggle.
The reality of “insufficient deployment costs.” The despair of “lacking firepower.” And the catharsis of overturning those deficits through pure logic and tactics.
If you are tired of a world that only values efficiency, or if you enjoy stories of gritty trial and error, I invite you to join me. Please act as an “Observer” to this reckless challenge.
After all, true tactics only bloom within constraints.