In a world where everything is trying to steal as many minutes of our attention as possible, cheating in single-player games is just a way to experience the content without the grind. I appreciate any SP game that offers “dad-mode” difficulty options, but those are few. My favorite types of games are those that incentivize replay by offering “cheats” within the game. Games such as Dead Space and Silent Hill IV incentivized replay by offering enhanced items or, in the case of SH4, an infinite rocket launcher. Those are still, to this day, games I’ve played at least 3-4 times from start to end just to find fun ways to play and be a badass while doing it!

As with most things in my life, if it isn’t hurting anything/anyone why would/should I or anyone else care? Cheating in MP is akin to drinking water from a public toilet, though. Almost nothing grosser than that action and those people!

All that said, one thing I’ve learned about myself over the years, especially since my ADHD diagnosis last year (or the year before, time is a blur anymore), is that cheating is nearly always going to kill any interest I have in that game. It’s when I know I’m nearing the end of my interest in the game. It extends to hobbies, too, though the “cheating” in that is splurging and finally buying stuff to really get good at the hobby. I did that with woodworking, 3D printing, and ghost hunting. Bought the shit, got excited about using it, and basically didn’t touch the hobby afterwards. It kind of sucks and I’m working on that stuff, though!