Playing to Understand the Environment: From Superficial Skins to Truly Ecological Gameplays
First author: MartinYear: 2024
Abstract
How do video games teach about ecology and climate change through their aesthetics and mechanics? From the recent The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Nintendo EPD, 2023) to Outer Wilds (Mobius Digital, 2019), Endling: Extinction is forever (Herobeat Studios, 2020) or The Sims series (Maxis et al. 2000-actuality); videogames have taken climate change and the environmental crisis into account. Some videogames approach the issue better than others in terms of videoludic aesthetics. The use of skins with the tag of ecological that we can see in Cities Skylines: Green Cities (Paradox Interactive, 2017) is purely superficial because it does not alter the core gameplay of this genre of videogames, representing the harshest excess of capitalism that is leading humanity to the climatic disaster. There are, however, videogames that employ a truly sustainable aesthetic, both visual and playable; in which we learn about the fictional environment without the need to conquer the space or level up to build on virgin lands. Outer Wilds teaches us new ways to relate to our environment in a sustainable way, both in its fictional universe and in the real world.Details
Language: EnglishCountry of affiliation: Spain
Published in: Video Games and Environmental Humanities: Playing to Save The World
Publication type: Book chapter
Source: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-67980-3_7
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