My approach to gaming is a bit unusual. Like most people, I usually choose games that excite me after watching a trailer or reading a description. But sometimes, I hear a pitch for a game that seems boring at first but has a deeper message hidden within. I may be bored while playing it, but if the story or emotional response is good enough, I just have to see it through. I can’t help recommending the experience to others as a work of art, rather than as a fun night of relaxation. This week, I had such an experience once again. Unfair Flips made me experience the five stages of grief just by flipping a coin. This article is a record of my mental journey.
Denial
Unfair Flips is a game developed and self-published by Heather Flowers. The game is very simple: press the space bar to flip a coin. Get heads nine times in a row to unlock the game’s ending and win! Easy, right?
At the start of the game, there is a 20% probability of getting heads on a coin toss, and each flip takes a little under two seconds. If that were the case throughout the game, it would take a while. This is where the upgrade system comes into play. Every time you get heads, you earn money, which you can use to get better stats. You can choose from the following options:
- Improving the odds of getting heads in a flip.
- Improving the flip speed.
- Getting a higher bonus multiplier on earnings after consecutive heads;
- Upgrading your coins’ value.
The gameplay is very straightforward, and the numbers seem reasonable with the upgrades. I expected to finish flipping quickly; it would be easy as long as I thought this through properly. Oh boy, how wrong I was!
Anger
I flipped for about ten minutes. The most consecutive flips I managed was three. I started to become frustrated. How could anyone publish a game like this? It’s completely random! Even with the upgrades, it will take ages! And why was that guy in the bear mask staring at me the whole time? I kept pressing the space bar. I thought it would eventually work. I thought things would get better if I just persisted and flipped better. The game kept me engaged by giving me a trophy for every extra consecutive flip. I was still in denial, thinking that I would be able to finish quickly. If my odds were fifty/fifty, it would be over in under a hundred clicks. But after a while, I just started to feel desperate.
Bargaining and depression
About half an hour into my journey with Unfair Flips, I started looking for a way out. Surely the game would lend me a helping hand, wouldn’t it? Coin flips earned me about twenty-five cents each, but upgrading my odds cost a hundred dollars. This was absurd! I felt like I couldn’t continue. It was too boring to keep up with. But I had stuck with it for half an hour. Surely I couldn’t keep it up any longer! And then it hit me…
While playing, the game sometimes provides key information between the ‘heads’ and ‘tails’ prompts. Initially, it was just to deliver a message about how I could win the game and how many flips I had done. However, after my five hundredth flip, the game delivered the following message: ‘Humans have a strange relationship with probability. Even when presented with completely truthful odds, we have a tendency to overestimate the outcome.’ This came as a shock. It made me doubt my entire reason for playing. Had I overestimated my ability to see this through? Is forty per cent even a low chance? The most consecutive flips I had were five. No, I couldn’t give up. I had to stay strong!
Acceptance
After this point, I just kept going, mindlessly pressing the space bar. I wasn’t expecting to finish soon; expectations were just unnecessary. I had become what the game wanted me to be. I couldn’t help but feel joy when I got to seven flips, but it didn’t matter if I failed on the eighth. I had nowhere left to go; I had become one with the coin. I would see this through even if I played for two hours or more. After a while, the game even gave the message that this state of limbo might never end. But that didn’t matter anymore. We would see the mythical tenth flip. Me and the bear, who had become a witness to my trail.
In the end…
After 1,578 flips, my torturous journey came to an end. It had taken me one hour to see the last flip. But what happened? Well, my coin just exploded,! Meaning I didn’t get to see the outcome of my final grand moment. But I couldn’t help but smile. I was finished. With an achievement that my outcome had a 30% chance of appearing, there was no doubt in my mind that I didn’t want to play this game again. And I think this was exactly the point. If I saw the 30% chance next to the trophy and I understood its significance. Seeing other endings wouldn’t achieve anything other than the same outcome, which would probably end in disappointment.
I’m glad I played Unfair Flips, and I would recommend this game to anyone interested in meaningful gaming experiences. It’s available on Steam for two euros, so you have no excuse not to play it — it only takes an hour to complete!
Or does it? I know three people who have played it and I’m the fastest finisher. A whopping thousand flips faster than the last!
