Psychology of Psychonauts | Compton's Cook Off

In the wilderness around Whispering Rock Psychic  Summer Camp lies the Geodesic Psychoisolation Chamber. Early on in the game, Maloof gets locked  inside one of the cells by Bobby. Once Raz frees him, he explains how these Psychoisolation  Chambers are 6th sensory deprivation tanks. They are designed to block out psychic powers  in all of its forms. Based upon his reaction, this is pure torture for him. It  is mentioned that the camp staff have not used them to punish the kids since  the 50s. So

when it is learned that another Psychoisolation Chamber is just outside  the Motherlobe, the question is, Why? What reason would an individual have to shut  off their psychic abilities? Why would this technology even be developed in the first place?  By looking at the current occupant of this place, we can get an idea. Enter Compton Boole. As one  of the founding members of the Psychonauts, it is an odd sight to see him in self-imposed isolation.  What led him to want to cut off his own abiliti

es willingly? Razputin’s goal for meeting with the  broken man is simply to gain access to the Bowling league. However, by the end of his mental  world, all these questions will be answered. Upon reaching the outside of Compton’s cell,  Razputin is met with the man playing chess with Harold the Rat. The Boole family are  all accomplished in Zoolingulism or the ability to speak with animals. Their natural  instincts become readable to those practiced in this ability. Hearing too many voices at  o

nce though can be a problem. Having Harold in the room is simple enough for Compton  to handle. However, he becomes quickly overwhelmed the more people are in the room.  The simple presence of Raz entering the room puts Compton on edge. Feeling that just having  one person there is too overwhelming for him. Before even going into his mind we get  a hint here of what plagues him. After the conversation shifts to his partner Cassie,  he asks Raz to bring him a single bee from the woods so he can a

sk about her whereabouts.  Unfortunately, three bees are returned. When Compton briefly exits the chamber and the  voices of all three begin to buzz inside his head, the man collapses. It is at this point that  Raz asks permission to head inside and perform a wellness check. With the psi-portal on  his head, we dive into Compton’s Cook-Off. Before entering the world proper, a new enemy  type is introduced. The Judge. Self Judgment is a topic we have discussed previously during this  series. In G

loria’s Theater, we see this idea take the form of Jasper, the Critic. Functionally,  the Judge enemy type and Jasper serve a similar purpose. Self-Judgment. However, these mental  constructs are created in opposite ways between Compton and Gloria. For the actress, the voices of  people around her caused Jasper to form. Critics and audience members were vocal about her mistakes  while on stage. The judgment originated outside of herself and was then internalized. From the  outside to the inside.

For Compton, his sense of self-judgment originated within himself and was  projected outward onto others around him. From the inside to the outside. We see this displayed  as soon as the bell rings, and the show begins. Compton and Raz find themselves on a cooking game  show. Three sock puppet judges surround him taking the form of Hollis, Ford, and Otto. All are made  huge, reflecting how he views them being larger than him in terms of competence and importance.  Most likely the design choice

to make him shorter than all the others is intended to showcase how he  sees himself. Much much smaller than other people. Compton’s own self-doubt and judgment gets  projected onto these figures. Believing they are the ones judging him. This is a false belief.  These are just sock puppets being animated by Compton’s own hand. His own conscious action  forcing them to speak negatively about him. In reality, these three do not think that way. By  the end of the world, he takes the puppets off his

hand and realizes the truth. That throughout  this cooking show, he is belittling himself while believing they are the thoughts of others. Like  shadow puppets on the wall, he is scaring himself. Self-Judgment is not the long and short of Compton  Boole. This is only a symptom of his problems. Let’s explore more of his world before getting  into it. Compton’s Cook-Off is structured as a timed platforming challenge. The host of the show  instructs the pair to collect all the ingredients and cook

up a dish for the goat judges to consume.  Preparing these ingredients involves hopping through the stage of hazards while a timer ticks  down. Cameras surround the stage, watching our every move. Judges look down upon us. The crowd  is expecting a good show as the music plays. All of these external factors give not only Compton,  but the player a sense of anxiety about finishing the task in the designated time. It plays into a  fear that a lot of us have experienced. Being the center of attent

ion. With all eyes on you,  every imperfection amplified is laid bare. Without giving the player a chance to  acclimate to what the world demands of us, we are forced to rush into uncharted  territories and perform. Hearing the voice of the host commenting on our every move.  Our successes and our failures in this challenge. With this we have the clues needed to address  Compton’s core issue. Self-Judgment, Anxiety, and feeling relief when isolated away from  others. Compton Boole experiences so

mething that is relatively common called Social Anxiety  Disorder. Otherwise known as Social Phobia. This is characterized by a, “Persistent and exaggerated  fear of social situations in which embarrassment or a negative judgment by others may cause  significant distress.” This can lead to avoidance of these situations which impair an individual’s  social or professional development. It should be noted that everyone has a comfort zone that we  feel uncomfortable about when leaving. Any new exper

ience brings about a degree of anxiety.  These circumstances can be distinguished from Social Phobia because they are situational  rather than being an ever present experience. Social Anxiety Disorder can be considered a  Chronic Emotional Disorder that finds a way to leak into various aspects of your  life consistently. On the flip side, we can feel social anxiety when asked to give a  speech in front of a class. However, the feeling is isolated to this one event. Therefore, it  is not consider

ed to be an emotional disorder. This is the reason Compton Boole checked himself  into Psychoisolation and never left. If being in the proximity of one boy and three small  bees is enough to make him keel over in pain, imagine what walking into the  Motherlobe would do to him. This seems like a good enough time  to talk about isolation in general. Based upon your personality types, this can be  a relaxing or lonely experience. Those who are a little asocial can only deal with groups for a set  t

ime before they need to get away. Others thrive on it. For them, isolation can be a negative  experience. Let’s take Terryl for example. Since rarely anyone comes to Psychoisolation,  her days are passed in silence and solitude. For an extroverted personality like her, this is near  torture. The polar opposite of Compton’s reaction. As a result when Raz enters, she becomes rather  overwhelming to deal with. Constantly chattering. Talking in an exaggerated way. Overly excited  just to have anyone

there. This comes off as obnoxious. But this is the point. How the  player and Raz react to Terryl is intended to be a reflection of how Compton views everyone  else. Overwhelming to deal with. Her inclusion here allows us to empathize with Compton, putting  us in a similar state of mind before meeting him. Now we come to the question, what caused Compton’s  Social Phobia? There are a few primary factors that led to it. All of which can be found in his  mental vaults. In, “I Was Only Trying To

Help,” we see the most important data point. Being an  animal lover, Boole sneaks into a pet shop to free all the animals. All of them are overjoyed with  their newfound freedom and mug him with affection. However, with all the voices and emotions  swirling around, he became overwhelmed. This triggered his Blastokinesis and nothing  was left of the freed animals. This experience traumatized him. Even after being bailed out  of prison by Ford Crueller, he never recovered. This Mental Vault is the

primary reason he  is Psychoisolation. It is not for his own sake. It is for the safety of others. He fears  that if he goes out into the world and becomes overwhelmed he will cause another explosion  and more people will be caught in the blast. Because of this, he is in a spiral of fear and  anxiety. Even if he wanted to be around a person, he fears to for this reason. The concern for  their safety causes anxiety when others are around him. This makes him want to avoid people.  And around and

around we go ad infinitum. Despite this, proximity to his friend Cassie  was enough to keep his mind in check. Whether this is due to her calming demeanor or him having  an unconscious block with his Blastokinesis when with her is not explained. There is precedence for  the latter in the series. Back at Whispering Rock, a camper named Phoebe Love had a Pyrokinetic  compulsion. When she became overly excited, she would set things on fire at random. However,  she explicitly states that she has a m

ental block about setting her friend Quentin on  fire so she spends all her time with him. Feeling safe with him. This same relationship  dynamic may be present for Compton and Cassie. Some of us are lucky there are people in our  lives who soothe our mental anguish. Just being around them will lessen the burden of  emotional distress. For those of us who don’t I’d take a tip from Hollis’ Hot Streak and form  a mental connection between Help and Winning. Sometimes the first step is understanding

that  we do not need to go through hard times alone. For the early days of the Psychonauts,  Compton had Cassie as a support system. However, in the second Mental Vault, we see  the support collapse. In the vault, “Compton on His Own,” we witness the battle with Maligula.  Compton recruits animals to assist in the battle. Unfortunately, all of them are swept away by a  tidal wave and were lost. After this battle, the surviving members opened the Motherlobe. Shortly  after, Cassie left and went

deep into the woods, never to be seen again. Left alone in his office,  Compton reflects on all of his failures. The dead animals that are his fault. The self-judgment  he imagines coming from the others. The angry roars of the beasts he brought into battle  only to lose. It all became overwhelming. At this point, the fear of his Blastokinesis  surged into prominence and he checked himself into Psychoisolation to quiet these voices  and at the same time keep everyone safe from him. The failure w

ho could kill the others  if he was ever unable to keep his cool. All of these factors working together lead Compton  to self-isolation. It became his only way to cope with the fear, anxiety, self-judgment, and  trauma that plague him. Now that the game show has started and Raz is at his side, it  is time to do something about it. The cooking show has several symbolic links to Compton’s  personality. Because of his animal loving nature, the boiling water, blender, grill and the knife  all are th

emed after animals. It is also implied that cooking is something that Compton enjoys to  do. During the mental vault slide of his office, one shelf has a rolling pin and a sauce pan.  This combined with some of his dialogue while in the mental world points to his interest in the  culinary arts. For those who are conscious of it, cooking can be a form of meditation. After a long  days work, I enjoy coming home, putting on some music and spending an hour preparing a meal. It  provides an opportuni

ty to tune out everything about the day and focus on a simple task.  However, because of Compton’s general anxiety and self-judgment, this act has been turned into  a stressful activity rather than a relaxing one. Another example of the world reflecting his  past is the first of three cooking challenges. The Grulovian Drowned egg. While it is a simple  reference to the battle with Maligula, there is another detail from the ingredients. The dish  requires an Outspoken Egg and an Unruly Onion. Out

spoken and Unruly are characteristics  that, from Maligula’s perspective, could apply to the protesters. The same  ones that she drowned during the deluge. The commercials showcase a connection to other  members of the Psychic 6. Tin Can Crunch showcases Ford and is plagued by Censors and a Judge. The  second cereal has Otto on the cover but showcases Bees which are linked to Cassie. This combat  arena has Regrets, Censors, and a Judge. It is apparent that the regrets of his prior actions and  f

ailures became a central point of his judgment. Being so hard on himself that he believes  everyone else sees him as possessing no value. On top of these symbolic links to his history  and mental state, the cooking challenge itself provides some interesting advice on how to handle  a stressful situation. Upon entering the level, the player is given a large jungle  gym of deadly platforming to navigate. We have never seen this place before  and do not yet know how to navigate it. Rather than givi

ng us a moment  to acclimate, the game puts a timer on screen and tells us to hurry or the  mystery box will be lost. No pressure right. Uncharted territories are always a  stressful thing. Imagine being dropped into a new city with no map, no phone, no  gps, and told you have to find a specific building in ten minutes without asking  for directions or you lose a big prize. However, if you were asked to do the same thing  in your home town this would not be a problem. Once you know how to naviga

te your surroundings,  these tasks become easier and less stressful. During the first round of Ram-It-Down, Raz is in  uncharted territories. Come the second round he has a better lay of the land. This allows him  to do more complicated dishes in less time. However, there are other things to make the  challenge harder. The player is conditioned to want to collect all the Figments, Mental  Vaults, and Emotional Baggage the moment we see them. Doing so, however, will slow us down  and make it hard

er to beat the timer. Effective time management is the key here. Trying to  do fifty things at once means it is harder to accomplish the most important task. As the  saying goes, if you chase two rabbits, you’ll catch neither. Getting distracted by irrelevant  tasks causes the important things to be neglected. Ignoring the collectibles for now and coming  back to them later is the effective strategy. This is how Compton’s Cook-Off is structured. After the first commercial break, the game gives 

us some free time in the level. An opportunity to explore, get the collectibles, learn the  pathways and practice how to navigate the traps. On top of this, new figments appear between each  round. By collecting them during these breaks, Raz will discover new ways to traverse the  level which will shorten the travel time. This gives us an idea of what to expect  next time so we do not feel lost. The stress of the level comes from two  things. Trying to do too many things at once and the artifici

al time limit.  Luckily, the time limit is largely a lie. After returning to the level we  can try the challenge again and get the mystery box. The anxiousness we felt  was only a trick and only in our heads. After each challenge, Compton becomes  more and more confident. At first relying solely on Raz to speak for him.  By the time we get to the Pancake dish, he speaks on his own. Becoming more comfortable  and able to deal with the anxious situation. Raz’s comment places the suggestion that  n

ow, the training wheels must come off. Compton must cook on his own. The Boss fight with  the Gluttonous Goats begins. However, the intern can still assist him in collecting ingredients.  As mentioned earlier, there is nothing wrong with asking for help. In the kitchen, nothing  would get done if the chef had to do everything from unload the food, prepare the ingredients,  cook the food, plate it, and serve the meal. Compton can focus on cooking the meals  while Raz helps with everything else. D

uring the boss fight, Compton gets the  opportunity t o literally shove his success down the judge’s throats. Forcing them to  recognize his value in more ways than one. As each judge takes in too much, they  explode, revealing the man’s own hand. After the Battle of Grulovia, Compton Boole was  left with a sense of failure and worthlessness. As the Goat Judges are removed he is  able to rediscover his own value. His own strengths. With the internal stressor  gone, the kitchen can finally be cle

aned up. Now Compton is able to handle the three voices of  the bees and heads off to find his partner Cassie. Before leaving, he gifts Razputin with the  Bowling League pass. Now we can head back to the Motherlobe and begin working on repairing  the fractured mirror in Ford Crueller’s Mind. See you then.