sense
We found the use of the word "you" to be interesting as directly implements the readers perspective within the story. We believe that not enough games utilize this second person perspective, which adds to the significance of the message. By placing accountability onto the user for being a part of this broken system, it appeals to their emotions and facilitates change.
you highlights
We found the use of the word "you" to be interesting as directly implements the readers perspective within the story. We believe that not enough games utilize this second person perspective, which adds to the significance of the message. By placing accountability onto the user for being a part of this broken system, it appeals to their emotions and facilitates change.
made by queer designers, positing that “permanent living represents a particularly potent trope for expressing both hopes and concerns about contemporary queer life in the face of an uncertain future.” But Ruberg resists the reading of this mechanic as purely utopian:
In many games I have played in the past, there have been permadeath options, where if you die in a game, it sets the player back to the beginning (ex: "Dont Starve"). Yet, in the article, it is discussed that more liberal leaning individuals (especially ones who are a part of the lgbtq community) have created narratives with “permalife”. Unlike permadeath, these games place the user into inescapable real world issues. This approach to game design makes me wonder about how games can evolve from purely escapist experiences into tools for social commentary. It’s not just about surviving in the game world, but confronting the more darker realities that many face in real life.
These games were originally dubbed “walking simulators” as an insult to exclude them and their creators from being considered “real games” or real game makers. But many creators of this othered, outsider genre have reclaimed the term, as have we in this chapter, for its embrace of qualities that would-be insiders despise. These games deemphasize traditional active game verbs to center more passive ones, especially movement, observation, and reflection.
The original term of “walking simulators” was used as an insult against more passive and linear forms of media within gaming culture. It is argued that they are more akin to a book or a movie, where user interaction essentially does not change anything within the story being told. Although many reviewers criticize this due to the limited form of interaction, it makes it easier to truly step into the shoes of the protagonist. Instead of focusing on many plot points, one central and solidified story can be further developed, as multiple endings do not need to be computed.
The navigation of the labyrinth is like pacing the floor; a physical manifestation of the effort to come to terms with the trauma, it represents the mind’s repeated efforts to keep returning to a shocking event in an effort to absorb it and, finally, get past it.
This section in the passage highlights how authors of games often use shock value and the "violence hub" in order to get emotion from the reader. Giving the reader a sense of agency that ultimately results in tragedy creates a deeper understanding of what happens in the story.