I don't play video games. I get addicted and spend too much time playing them! But a friend who is a gamer told me about a new game called Death Stranding, by video game designer Hideo Kojima. In this game, gamers help each other win. One player can build a bridge or road, then leave it there for other players to use. The point of the game is to bring a broken world back together. The reviews of the game are mixed—there are good and bad things about it—but I like the idea of a game based on working together rather than against each other. So many video games are about trying to beat other players. But, as my friend said, this is a different kind of game. You help each other out. The point is to connect people, both in the game and among gamers. I still won't play Death Stranding, or any other video game, but I'm glad to hear about one based on the value of working together.
—
addicted /uh-DIK-tid/ [adjective]—unable to stop taking drugs, or doing something as a habit
The visuals in Death Stranding are breathtaking! The main character is played by Norman Reedus of Walking Dead fame. The plot is that America has been destroyed by supernatural forces, and Sam Porter Bridges has to deliver packages to different places, reconnecting people with each other. Players can also help each other by creating things that other players can use to make it through the obstacles. Gamers never encounter each other, but they find and create things along the way and leave them there in the game.