Casual gaming has developed a market specifically for people who like the fun and entertainment of video games, without the competitive and even more professional natures that have developed within the industry. And within this casual players seek to play games that are not too high in difficulty and complex as far as levels and objectives. As a result, a market for mods has developed focusing on making games easier and more accessible to these players that seek the thrill and not the difficulty. Additionally, they break down the barriers for players who begin playing games and fail to complete due to the challenging levels and goals of the games.
The game Cuphead is a run and gun action game inspired by 1930’s cartoon characters, where players can play as either Cuphead or Mugman who pass through levels to defeat their enemies. Most importantly however, Cuphead is notorious for it’s challenging gameplay. The point of the game for the character is to repay their debt to the devil, which requires the player to go through various levels fighting bosses to do so. For the most part, character maneuvers are simple however the difficulty comes with the fast paced and complex fights that seem to drag on. These fights are some where players become the most frustrated as their character will suffer an excessive amount of deaths. Many game levels come with an easier mode to allow players to interact with a more slowed down version of the fight. However, solely playing in these easy modes does not allow players to complete the game, specifically face the final levels. Therefore, beating the game itself can become inaccessible to many who want to play for the experience but lack the ability to experience the game to its full potential given the difficulties.
Image via GamesRadar
Finding this issue one worth solving, player “n00bplatformer”, created a mod to combat some of the difficulties that make the game so frustratingly difficult for some players. The mod provides players with six hit points instead of three and boosts weapon damage by an additional 50% to avoid the drawn out length of boss battles. Essentially, this mod challenges the question, to what extent should difficulty be a measure of the true experience of the game. The mod is created to decrease the stress inducing aspects of these games to facilitate more fun and entertaining experiences for those who don’t seek the difficulties. Further these mods go beyond impacting casual gamers but seeks to increase accessibility for those without the same full capabilities. A prime example of this is blind player Steve Saylor’s ability to play Cuphead due to the changes granted by the Assist Mode. He says in his YouTube video review, “I wanted to play Cuphead, and this mod allowed me to do so. I wanted to showcase how amazing a video game experience can be when there are accessibility options added.” These types of mods have drawn some debate as far as making the game too easy denoting it “easy mode”, but a call to action that puts accessibility at the forefront and acknowledges that gaming is an experience that should be enjoyed by everyone, across all abilities, even as they differ.
