“That’s okay,” she said, standing up and hopping down onto the gravel, “I’llpick something easy.Somethingfun.Itwon’t be like whatIwas describing, butIplay most of those on my console at home anyway.”
I opened and closed my mouth a couple of times, not sure what to say, and also wondering whatI’dgotten myself into.Butit actually sounded … fun, maybe? “Ifyou’re sure,”Isaid eventually.
“Totally,” she said, already walking into the farmhouse.
I followed her inside and made us each a tea while she set things up – it took a while as she signed into her account and set up the device.Thenshe asked ifI’dever heard ofMarioKart, though she pronounced it likeMary-oh.
“Do you meanMario?”
“Oh my god, whatever,” she said. “Haveyou heard of it or not?”
“I don’t live under a rock,”Isaid, not admitting thatIonly vaguely knew what it was. “Isn’tthat something to do with bananas and turtle shells?”
Chloe laughed. “Itis indeed.”
“Did you have to buy this?”Iasked, sitting down next to her on the sofa and accepted the tiny controller she held out to me.
She shook her head. “Igot a free game with the console, soIchose this one.”
“Is that what you would have bought for yourself?”
She grimaced. “Notexactly.”
I must have looked as horrified asIfelt that she’d used her free game on me, knowing there was no wayI’dplay beyond today, because she rushed to say more beforeIcould protest.
“It’s okay!” she insisted. “Philwill be thrilled.Heloved this game when we were kids.”
“What would you have normally bought?”Iasked. “Surelyyou had something in mind?”
An embarrassed look flickered acrossChloe’sface for the briefest moment.
“What?!”Idemanded, already imagining all the sordid or embarrassing things she could be playing in the privacy of her own home.
“No, nothing like that,” she protested. “It’sjust … have you heard of a game calledStardewValley?”
I frowned;Ihadheard of it.Myex had played it on her computer,Iwas pretty sure, which she’d only told me about because we’d been discussing … no.Therewas no way.
“You want to pretend to be a farmer?!”Iasked, incredulous.Sheburied her face in her hands. “Ifyou want to be a farmer, let’s just go outside!Youdon’t need some expensive game console for that.”
“It’s not the same,” she insisted. “It’smindless.Cosy, even.Andthere are significantly fewer blisters involved.”
I rolled my eyes; maybeIwas just incapable of understanding the appeal.Idecided to drop it.
“Okay, then, how doIdo it?”Iasked, looking down at the tiny controller in my hand. “We’reracing, right?Whichbutton makes me go forward?”
Chloe shrugged. “Idon’t know.Ihaven’t played this game in years, and never on this console.”
“Then what the hell amIsupposed to do?”Iasked, throwing my hands up.
“It’s fine,” she said as she selected a race for us, then took my controller back to choose a character for me– a cute little mushroom-looking dude– and a car.Clearly,Iwas just along for the ride. “I’lltell you asIfigure it out.Justwatch the right-hand side of the screen.”
A little cloud carried a turtle-looking guy to the starting line, where he held a traffic light on the end of a fishing line–Icouldn’t have made up something more absurd ifI’dtried.
As soon as the race started,Ibegan moving forward with no input.
“How doIsteer?”Iasked, looking atChloe’sside of the screen; she was already miles ahead, a little number three in the bottom corner of her frame.Therewas a number twenty-four on mine, and the little mushroom guy was running directly into a wall.
“Just tilt your controller,” she said, andIdid, finally getting the mushroom to turn the way he needed to go.Idid my best to navigate, though the other characters were long gone.
