Josh Baxter Levels Up - Hardcover

Gavin Brown has written stories and designed games for the bestselling Spirit Animals and The 39 Clues series, and is the creator of the highly rated iOS and Android game Blindscape. He lives in a narrow apartment in New York City's East Village.

LEVEL UP AND WIN

Player 1: Josh Baxter

Backstory: Gamer. New kid at third new school in two years. Lives with mom and sister, Lindsay (aka Princess Perfect).

Enemies: Henry Schmittendorf, middle-school football star (aka the Mitten Monster).

Allies: None.


LEVEL 1: NEW SCHOOL, NEW RULES

Strategy: Make it out alive, at any cost.

Outcome: Enemy unlocked. Potential allies alienated. One life lost.

Strategic Assessment: This isn't working. My grades are terrible, I have no friends, Mom is taking away my video games, and Mittens is out to get me. I need a new strategy!


I've been playing not to lose. It's time to play to win.

Dad always told me, when I got mad at a video game, “Turn your anger into resolve to level up. Make it your need to increase your skills and win.” And then, when I would tell him how I was going to do better tomorrow, he'd bring out his favorite saying. “If you have something hard to do, the best time to start is now.” A lot of the people in my real life seem almost like characters from a game. I sketch them out on several pages of graph paper and pin them to my wall. I try drawing myself as a silent but deadly ninja, but that doesn't feel right. Hiding and pretending there's nothing wrong has only made everything worse.Have I been doing everything wrong? What sort of game is this?It certainly isn't like a ninja game, where you start out able to sneak, jump from rooftop to rooftop, and fling throwing stars at your enemies. No, it's more like an adventure game. One of the ones where you start out with three hit points, armor made out of old potato sacks, and a balsa wood sword.In every adventure game the character starts out at the bottom. A level-one scrub. No skills, powers, or magic items. And if I want to reach the top, to become the hero who could get the grades, beat the bullies, and maybe even impress a princess, there's only one way. I have to grind my way through the levels. I need to learn the rulebook, earn the experience points, max out my stats, and level up. I've been playing not to lose. It's time to play to win.