THE MYTH OF GAMES AS ESCAPISM

When attempting to drive forward a medium, it's important to understand the trends and viewpoints that are holding it back. I've already likened games to theater and discussed why people have trouble calling them art, but in this post I'm going to dig a little deeper and attempt to disprove one of the troubling myths surrounding our culture and industry.

Many people think playing games is a form of indulgent escapism. Considering role-playing experiences like Dungeons & Dragons or World of Warcraft, it's easy to assume everyone involved is losing themselves so deeply in the game world to escape problems in the real world. They're called "role-playing games" because players take on the role of someone else—a deadly night elf, an interstellar commander, etc. These roles are so appealing because they give us a break from our responsibilities, right?


Wrong. In fact, they pile more responsibilities on us. Games are not a passive medium like film or literature; players don't have the luxury of watching some other hero save the world.

Games are interactive and engaging, and by definition provide obstacles to overcome. Perhaps gamers are escaping into other worlds, but often those worlds have more problems and challenges than our own. Players are accepting a responsibility in that very act of playing, willingly taking it upon themselves to put down a mutant apocalypse, escort a helpless child out of harm's way, or even just pile heaps of experience onto their avatar to hit that elusive next level.


Okay, so that's fine, but if a gamer's network of real-life relationships is in the crapper and bills are piling up at home, vanishing into that other world is still shirking responsibilities, isn't it? On some level, yes. But if players wanted to escape their problems, it doesn't make sense that they would take on even more in their spare time. They would love to be able to tackle those problems; most just don't know how to go about it. Enemies or obstacles in the game world then become manifestations of real-world challenges, ones with tangible goals and a clear (if not simple) path to victory. That's why overcoming them can feel like such an exhilarating accomplishment, even if it's as simple as beating a level of Angry Birds.

People act differently while they're playing games than they do in the real world. It's similar to internet culture in that regard—we feel safely distanced from ourselves and buffered by the blanket of apparent anonymity. You might think this means we're putting on a mask, but it's actually the opposite. The mask is what we wear every day in social situations where to express oneself honestly isn't always an acceptable option. Our masks actually come off when we play games or go online. This has consequences both bad (think YouTube commenters) and good: while society often demands conformity and cynicism from younger generations especially, games give us a venue where we are instead rewarded for expressing our creative selves with fiery pride and passion.


And therein lies our responsibility as developers. Our games must inspire players to take that pride and passion back into the real world and conquer their problems with the same willingness and vigor they displayed in the game world. It's not as daunting as it sounds! The lines between the physical and digital worlds are blurring more and more each day, with advances in smartphones, social media, augmented reality, etc. Be creative and you'll find getting your players to make that step is really pretty easy.

Once we've done that, we'll have broken the myth that gamer culture is entirely made up of lazy, unproductive basement-dwellers and the only use for our wonderfully powerful medium is to escape the trials of the real world—which is to ignore its abilities to inspire, educate, and unite people all around the globe.

Leave a comment if you agree or disagree!