Have Fun…

Extremely recently, my father passed away after a very brief and difficult battle with lymphoma. Watching a family member go through something like that, and the loss that follows, puts things into perspective.

My dad always taught me to have fun. It didn’t matter what the thing was, you should enjoy doing it. He also said to try to win, but having fun always seemed to come first. Golf, for example, can be incredibly zen and beautiful on a nice day with good friends. But when it’s too hot and too frustrating, then what’s the point?

Always trying to have fun can be a tough mindset to keep when the whole point of a game is to win. How can not winning still be fun?

Honestly, that idea runs pretty contrary to my general nature. I like to win. I like to be right. I like things to go the way I planned. If I’m playing a game, I’m usually trying to figure out the best strategy, optimize my odds, and do whatever it takes to come out ahead. There’s satisfaction in that kind of thinking, and it’s wired pretty deep.

When my dad would say “just have fun,” it didn’t always compute. Losing isn’t fun. Messing up isn’t fun. Playing a game badly? Definitely not fun. But over time, especially lately, I’ve come to understand that what he meant wasn’t about being careless or unserious. He was saying that fun is something you bring with you. It’s a mindset, not a reward for winning.

You can take something seriously and still enjoy it. You can play hard and still laugh. Sometimes, the best moments don’t come from dominating a game, but from being in it, surrounded by people you like, doing something you love, even if you come up short.

That’s a hard lesson. I’m still working on it.

What helps is leaning into the parts of a game that make it feel fun, not just competitive. Use a porg token that makes you smile every time it hits the table. Break out a showcase leader card just because it feels cool, even if it costs a little too much. Wear a shirt or hat that gets you in the right mindset. Play with a custom chip or counter that feels personal, even if no one else gets the joke. Little things like that can turn a regular match into something memorable.

And maybe that’s why Porg Depot has mattered to me more than I expected it to. Myself and a few friends have had a ton of fun building this site, creating content that’s sometimes serious, sometimes completely ridiculous. Mostly, we’ve done it for ourselves. That other people find it interesting or helpful is a bonus.

Like everything else on the internet, Porg Depot has taken some heat. Some folks don’t like the topics we cover. Others take issue with the fact that we often use artificial intelligence to generate artwork. But here’s the thing, we’re not trying to win the internet. We’re just trying to have fun. Especially when it comes to making silly images that we couldn’t draw ourselves even if we tried.

If we did try to do some art, you’d be getting something that looks like it came from an old Magic: The Gathering Unglued card:

People need to loosen up. But enough about the art…

The internet has so much information it’s hard to even comprehend. A recent estimate put the total data at around 120 to 150 zettabytes. A zettabyte is one trillion gigabytes. This means that the internet would fit on roughly 32 trillion DVDs or a better comparison could be that the estimated size of all the written works in human history is about 0.00005 zettabytes.

Of course, part of that vast ocean of data, and technically part of the written works of human history, is our work here on Porg Depot. A tiny, ridiculous little corner of the internet. I’m proud of it.

We’re not here to outsmart algorithms, win arguments, or chase some imaginary high score for content. We are here to enjoy ourselves. To make stuff that makes us laugh, think, or just have a good time. To have fun.

That’s the lesson my dad was trying to teach and that I continue to strive to learn.

Have fun. This is, after all, a game.