Legendary filmmaker Guillermo del Toro is also an avid gamer, but he has a bone to pick with the medium, saying it doesn’t cater to the eldest among us—or a specific genre doesn’t, at least. Most recently known for directing the latest Frankenstein adaptation, del Toro has dipped his toes into the gaming industry by collaborating with Hideo Kojima on the canceled Silent Hills‘ demo, P.T., and lending his likeness to Deadman, a prominent character in Kojima’s Death Stranding and its sequel.
We weren’t entirely familiar with Guillermo del Toro’s game, however. In a recent interview with IGN, the director runs through a list of bangers he’s particularly fond of. “I love Left 4 Dead,” he says, before noting that Death Stranding brought him to tears. “Shadow of the Colossus made me introspective about so many intangible things,” he continues, then calling BioShock‘s Rapture a world he could “get lost in for ages.” Before name-dropping other all-time greats like Journey, Monument Valley, and Angry Birds (yes, Angry Birds is a bona fide classic), del Toro has a particular critique for influential roguelike Dead Cells.
“I just hate respawning,” del Toro says, even though he found Dead Cells “really interesting.” He doesn’t particularly like having to start every run from the beginning, even though “you get faster,” on subsequent attempts. “Please, please do a version without respawning,” he literally begs, “for the elderly players.” If someone makes a non-roguelike Dead Cells, del Toro wants to know about it immediately: “I’m available. You contact me and send it to me. Please, I beg you.”
The visionary filmmaker cuts to the heart of a common conundrum in gaming—intentional design versus approachability. It comes up often in regard to roguelikes, but also other genres, like soulslikes and extraction shooters. There’s an innate attraction to being immersed in virtual game worlds like that of Dead Cells, but make it more approachable and you’ve compromised its intended design. Effort without progression is an understandable turnoff for a lot of players, but it’s become a core tenet of many types of games.
Games which are difficult or punishing are also not just a challenge for elderly folks; it’s a conversation that comes up regularly when discussing broader accessibility concerns. Special peripherals and extensive settings menus have helped games become more accessible, especially in recent years, but it’s still a medium that largely centers around hand-eye coordination and reaction time.
Even without specific accessibility concerns, I can see where del Toro is coming from. My favorite game so far this year is Saros, another roguelike, and it’s easy to understand how someone would be interested in its fictional world but entirely frustrated by its harsh gameplay.
Gaming is already a hobby for all ages, but will only become more so as people who grew up with video games continue to age. Guillermo del Toro proves that good taste is timeless, and even if he pleads facetiously for games catering to the elderly, it still touches on one of the medium’s core contradictions—games are for everyone, but not playable by everyone.