You know what isn’t fun? Playing ping-pong, Monopoly, or any game by yourself. You want to know why? Because multiplayer games are just more fun than single player games. Period. Now, now… I know some of you will definitely disagree with that statement. But, I think that I have a couple of arguments to persuade you to see things my way.
 
So, why is multiplayer more fun? Well, isn’t it obvious? Games were created to see who could outdo the other. Whether a physical sport, like a race to see who is fastest, or a board game like Chess to see who is more strategic. Who wants to sprint against their own time over and over and over… No one! And, I know you are going to say, “But, Speed Runners literally try and have the fastest time possible.” Which is correct, because they are competing against other players! You see, challenging another in a game has been something we have been doing for centuries. We like the competition, and find it fun to take part as well as spectate. It is just much more fun with more people.
 
The best argument for single-player gamers is as follows: Single-player games have a much better story than multiplayer games. Wrong… Sure, Skyrim has an incredible world that you can lose yourself in, I won’t argue with that. But, I dare say that most people didn’t finish that main story. In fact, if we look at the statistics of people who actually finish a game, we will find that the majority don’t.
 
In 2014, Steam researched some of the top single-player games to see how many players completed the campaign to earn the achievements. Mass Effect 2 had a completion rate of 56%, Batman: Arkham City had 47%, and The Elder Scrolls Skyrim only had 32% of players actually finishing the main campaign of the story! Now, this doesn’t prove that multiplayer is better, mind you, but it does show that the biggest strength of a single-player argument just isn’t true. We go to movies and read books to receive an amazing story, but most people make it through the entire thing! How many people would leave halfway through a movie, then claim that the story was the greatest part of it? I’m assuming not too many.
 

 
For some reason, there is this mindset that a multiplayer game can’t have a great story, and I’m not sure why. Maybe because there hasn’t been a lot of great ones created? Let’s take the world of Halo. I believe that many gamers would say that the lore and story of Halo is interesting, fun, and exciting. You can play those games with two people (some with four). What I’m saying is, sure, there hasn’t been a top multiplayer video game story, but that doesn’t mean that there can’t be one. It just hasn’t been created yet!
 
Plus, single-player stories are just so scripted. Sure, you live in a cool world, but we know that you are going to become the hero in the end. You are going to jump across the blocks, grab the flag, and save the princess from the castle. Now, gameplay is most important, but if you are selling me on an epic story, then just send me to the movies or hand me a good book. I’d much rather read about how the character behaves, then manually make him/her behave one way, only to see the opposite mindset during cutscenes…
 
Finally, the so -called “best” thing about single-player games isn’t actually playing the games. It is talking to your friends about playing them. That’s right! In the end, you want to find someone else to share this experience with. You want to talk about an experience and share it together. Deep down, single-player games just wish they could capture multiple people at once. Let’s take The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim again. I enjoyed playing that game. But you know what was even more fun? When I was streaming the game through Twitch and had other people to talk with me about the game. I basically had couch co-op without them playing. Oh, how I would have loved for someone to take control of Lydia, the first AI controlled partner, during the game and help me out. What I’m saying is, sharing the experience in the game is exactly what multiplayer is, and single-players want to share their experience with others.
 
Games bring people together. We love talking, playing, and just being around each other with them. Multiplayer allows us to get into a game and share a world together. Sure, you’re going to have some bad encounters with people at times, but you can’t let that get you down! Put yourself out there, game together, and have fun. It’s what games are all about.