Why do you play games? Ask a hundred different people that same question and you'll likely get a hundred different answers. For some, they play games to take a break from the daily grind. For others, they play for a sense of accomplishment. Some play to live out their fantasies, while others play to stay grounded in reality. You might have your own reasons for playing, but one thing is certain. Regardless of the reasons why you play games, there's no denying it's always an emotional experience.

Right about now, a few of you are probably saying, "Waitaminute there, Mr. Game Writer. You're telling me that wasting a few minutes at lunch with Bejeweled is 'an emotional experience'? I don't think so." Well, yeah ... that exactly what I'm saying. By taking an active role in moving the game forward, it becomes important to you ... with a real sense of disappointment and of pride, of tension and of relief, of fear and of joy. Whether you're trying to save humanity from world domination, on a quest of revenge for a lost love, or simply matching up a few colored gems, you can't help but get personally invested in it.

Still need proof? Let's compare a couple of titles. At one end of the spectrum, we've got Nintendo's hit Wii game, Animal Crossing: City Folk. At the other end, let's take Quantic Dreams' recent PS3 thriller, Heavy Rain. On the surface, you'd be hard pressed to find two more diametrically opposed games. In one, you're running around a town, planting trees, decorating houses, and talking with cute little animal residents. In the other, you're trapped as a pawn in the machinations of a serial killer, trying to track him down and keep him from killing again. Each of these is its own unique gaming experience, and yet both manage to pull many of the same emotions from the players. In both games, what you do right now has direct ramifications on how the game plays later.

With a game like Heavy Rain, drama is the core of its foundation. Without that emotional investment tethering the story to the player, the whole thing might just fall apart. Right from the start, as you slip out of your own skin and into the role of a father coping with the ghosts of his past, you can feel the weight he carries as a tangible as any sort of "force feedback" coming from the controller. Your attempts to foster a relationship with you son builds to climactic event that ultimately leaves you as panic stricken as the character on the screen. You've taken an active role in the drama surrounding these characters, and now their lives have essentially become yours. While the character is the one asked how far he would go to save the ones he loves ... it's you, the player, who's forced to answer. Oh, and that's just the opening act. By the time you've made it through from start to finish your first time, you've been on an emotional roller coaster of extreme highs and lows and might feel obligated to send Quantic Dreams your next therapy bill.

In Animal Crossing, you might start to feel attached to one of the villagers in your town, visiting him or her every day, sharing letters and presents, and building what you think will be a lasting friendship. Then, one day you check your mail, only to find a "Dear John" letter saying goodbye. Your buddy has decided to move on to greener pastures, leaving a void in your virtual life and wondering just what you could have done differently to convince him to stay just a little bit longer. It's akin to a bad breakup in real life, where one person has moved on and the other is grasping at straws to figure out why. Overdramatic? Maybe a little. But after putting so much of yourself into making friends and keeping them close, you can't help feeling some sense of abandonment and loss. Just like in Heavy Rain, it's because you're taking such an active role in the progression of the game, you're more affected when things happen in Animal Crossing. You've stopped playing the game and become a part of it instead.

Even Pac-Man players aren't safe from the occasional emotional outburst. If you don't believe me, just listen closely the next time you see a guy or gal dropping quarters into the closest arcade machine ... and be sure to cover the kiddies' ears. Odds are, there's going to be more swearing than Chris Rock's stand-up routine. No matter how you play or what you play, it doesn't change the fact that the "interactive" part of "interactive entertainment" makes any gaming experience a more personal affair. Sure, you might watch someone on a movie screen and scream "Don't go in that room!!", but in a game you've got no one to blame but yourself when the character walks through that door to certain doom.

Generally speaking, people play video games to escape from reality, and all the stress associated with it, even for just a little bit. Whether it's a quick round of Tetris, checking in on your little section of FarmVille, or quelling the latest outbreak of the zombie virus ... if you don't lose yourself in the fantasy of the game a little bit, you haven't escaped from anything. You can keep telling yourself "It's only a game," but the truth of the matter is, if it's ever really "only" a game ... then it's not doing its job. To get the most out of it, you've got to be able to put yourself into it. And when you put yourself into anything ... well ... that's something to get emotional about.