Videogames as an unheroic medium: the child hero's journey
Videogames as an unheroic medium: the child hero's journey
In this article, I examine two contemporary videogames that engage critically and imaginatively with conventional definitions of heroism. In Röki (Polygon Treehouse) and Knights and Bikes (Foam Sword Games), the child-avatars loosen the connection between maturity and self-reliance by framing interdependence as both an inevitable and a desirable condition of human society. Furthermore, by emphasizing children's supposed malleability, these games insist on the relationality of identities: they suggest that one's identity depends on the interactions one has with individuals and institutions. I suggest that by centering cooperation, these games destabilize myths of independence and autonomy that surround the lone hero of hyper-individualism and thereby challenge assumptions about the kinds of heroism videogames can portray.
Ursula Le Guin, childhood, heroism, multimodal, videogames
559-577
Reay, Emma
07fd9558-6d41-426a-abba-c278b28a78f3
July 2023
Reay, Emma
07fd9558-6d41-426a-abba-c278b28a78f3
Abstract
In this article, I examine two contemporary videogames that engage critically and imaginatively with conventional definitions of heroism. In Röki (Polygon Treehouse) and Knights and Bikes (Foam Sword Games), the child-avatars loosen the connection between maturity and self-reliance by framing interdependence as both an inevitable and a desirable condition of human society. Furthermore, by emphasizing children's supposed malleability, these games insist on the relationality of identities: they suggest that one's identity depends on the interactions one has with individuals and institutions. I suggest that by centering cooperation, these games destabilize myths of independence and autonomy that surround the lone hero of hyper-individualism and thereby challenge assumptions about the kinds of heroism videogames can portray.
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e-pub ahead of print date: 10 August 2022
Published date: July 2023
Keywords:
Ursula Le Guin, childhood, heroism, multimodal, videogames
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Local EPrints ID: 484639
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/484639
ISSN: 1555-4120
PURE UUID: 33a23072-7704-49f1-81ef-9efef08800d0
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Date deposited: 17 Nov 2023 18:19
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 04:15
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Emma Reay
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