[Participating in the Nexon PEAK Post Challenge]

When I think back to the first game I ever learned, I don’t remember a flashy battle or some grand story first. I remember the worn-out keyboard at the PC café.

My friend found me a seat and even launched the game for me, but I didn’t even know how to move the character on the screen. The whole explanation was simple: use the arrow keys to move, and press the spacebar to place a water balloon.

“Just get away before the water balloon bursts.”

The game I started with those words was Crazy Arcade.

Back then, I barely even understood that each game had its own controls. If it had been the kind of game where I needed to memorize skills or put together the right gear, I might have given up on the very first day.

Crazy Arcade was different.

All I had to do was place water balloons, avoid the water streams, and trap the other player in a bubble. The explanation was short, but once I moved around for myself, I understood almost right away why it was fun.

In my first match, I lost to my own water balloon, not the other player

When I first started, the hardest part wasn’t catching the other player.

It was getting away from the water balloons I had placed myself.

Any time I saw a box, I dropped a water balloon without thinking. But when I tried to back away, there was a wall behind me and another box at my side. The water balloon was already blinking, and with no idea where to go, I just kept pressing the arrow keys.

In the end, my first match was over before I even met the other player.

My friend laughed from the seat next to me and said,

“You have to check your way out before you place it.”

At the time, that felt surprisingly shocking. I had assumed this was the kind of game where placing lots of water balloons meant you were good at it.

From the next match on, I started looking around before I pressed the spacebar. I checked whether I had an escape route and how far the water stream would spread.

It didn’t take any grand study session to get better. If I made a mistake once, the screen showed me right away what had gone wrong.

That was the biggest reason Crazy Arcade felt like such a good first game.

My first win came more from waiting than from skill

After a few matches, I got a little more used to moving around, but catching the other player was still hard.

The players who were good could place several water balloons in a narrow path and slip out like it was nothing. Whenever I tried to copy them, I got hit by my own water stream again.

Then, for the first time, I won a match.

The other player tried to catch me by placing water balloons one after another, but they blocked off their own escape route too. I watched from a distance, and once they were trapped in a bubble, I moved in carefully.

When the victory screen appeared, I was as happy as if I had won through pure skill.

My friend said the other player had just made a mistake, but I insisted that staying alive to the end counted as skill too.

Looking back now, it was nothing special. But that one win made me want to play a little more.

Moments like that matter for beginners.

If a game only lets people who are already skilled win, it’s easy to lose interest after a few losses. In Crazy Arcade, one mistake from the other player or a single item could change everything. Even beginners got moments that could make them smile, and chances to win by accident.

You could understand what the items did without reading a guide

The items in Crazy Arcade were easy to understand for someone learning games for the first time, too.

If you picked up an item shaped like a water balloon, you could place more water balloons. An item that looked like a potion made the water stream longer. If you picked up roller skates, your character moved faster.

The icons and the results matched naturally.

Of course, at first I grabbed every item just because it looked good. There was a time I picked up several speed items, only for my character to get so fast that I kept running straight into walls.

That was when I realized something for the first time.

Even a good effect can feel inconvenient if you still aren’t comfortable with the controls.

Even now, after playing games for a long time, that part still feels true. Early on, what matters more than a character or piece of equipment other people say is strong is whatever feels comfortable for you to use yourself.

What I’d want to tell someone just starting now

Crazy Arcade is easy to jump into, but if you know a few things beforehand, you can avoid a lot of that first-day frustration.

First, before you place a water balloon, look for your way out first.

If you focus only on breaking boxes, it’s easy to get trapped between a wall and your own water balloon. It’s safer to place one after checking that you have enough room to move at least two spaces.

Second, it’s better to place one water balloon properly than to place a lot of them.

Beginners especially tend to block their own path by placing them one after another. At first, it was much better for learning the controls to place one, wait for it to explode, and then use the next one.

Third, don’t blindly follow fast characters.

If your movement speed gets too high, it becomes hard to stop where you want in narrow paths. With speed items too, it’s better to pick them up one or two at a time and find the pace that feels comfortable for you.

Fourth, don’t just watch the other player; watch where the water stream can spread.

Even if you aren’t standing right next to the water balloon, you can still get hit if you’re in the same line. Sometimes once a box disappears, the water stream suddenly reaches farther, so you need to watch the space around you too.

Lastly, at first, it’s better to make surviving a little longer your goal rather than focusing on winning or losing.

If you chase too hard trying to catch the other player, you often end up trapped first. On my first day, learning how to avoid attacks helped much more than trying to attack.

Even without knowing much about games, we could still laugh together

The reason I recommend Crazy Arcade as a first game isn’t only because the controls are simple.

Even someone who didn’t know much about games could sit beside you, watch, and understand what was happening.

A water balloon was about to burst, a character was running away, and someone had blocked the path the wrong way. It didn’t take a long explanation to understand why it was funny.

I laughed when my friend blocked the way in front of me and got both of us eliminated, and I laughed when a water balloon I dropped without thinking ended up catching the other player.

Even when there was a gap in skill, it was relatively rare for one person to spend the whole time just watching. Even beginners could still have a decisive moment now and then in item matches.

So if I ever had to introduce a family member or a friend to games for the first time, I’d want to start with something like Crazy Arcade rather than a complicated progression-based game... something with short matches and clear results.

The way it first taught me the fun of games

Now, before I start a game, I look up guides first.

I check recommended characters, equipment, and even the early mistakes I should avoid. It’s convenient, but sometimes I feel like I’m missing the fun of learning by bumping into things myself.

When I first played Crazy Arcade, I knew nothing.

I got trapped by my own water balloons, and even when I picked up good items, I couldn’t really use them properly. Even so, I could understand very quickly why I had failed, and in the very next match I could try something different.

That simple repetition was what first taught me the fun of games.

When I lost a match, I wanted to try again, and when I won for the first time, I wanted to brag to my friend. Even without a high level or good equipment, I could clearly feel that I was playing a game.

So if someone asks me what my very first game was, Crazy Arcade is what comes to mind.

And if someone asks what I would recommend to a person who has never really played a game before, I think my answer would be the same.

Move with the arrow keys, and place water balloons with the spacebar.

Because if you know just those two things, you can begin.

What game first showed you the fun of playing?

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