Playground for the Wii: The Root of My Anxiety

By: Cole Negen

So… how many people remember Playground? EA’s 2007 title seemed to be a staple amongst the Gen Z crowd. It was available for the Wii and the Nintendo DS, but everyone remembers the Wii version. The basic concept of the game is that you are a kid at school, and you play playground games. A pretty straightforward concept. The games, however, were unique to the game. There are commonly known games, such as dodgeball and tetherball, but also very unique games, such as racing paper airplanes, RC Car racing, and a Soccer game that you’d just have to see for yourself, because it is really beyond description. It’s single player and multiplayer modes were both legendary. In single player, you run around the playground, beat challenges, unlock boosts, and work your way to play the boss. Standard concept. The thing is though, it had an open world concept. You could run around, collect hidden things, interact with random kids, and other things. The people who you challenged were stationary in specific locations, so you could progress the game at your pace. Amongst this open world are 4 areas. You start in the schoolyard, and as you complete the challenges, a gate opens into the next area of the game. This area you unlock acts as the center for all areas in the game. Some may skawk at the fact that you have to unlock the central area of the game, but I like it. It provides a unique experience, that in my experience hasn’t really been replicated in such a way.