Elements for a Feminist video game:
As video games steadily grow in diversity and complexity and while amazing artwork is produced, it seems that most popular games still propose competitive scenarios based on gaining strength or making one’s civilization grow the biggest, where the main action is killing the boss or shooting everyone around. Independent games sometimes offer exploration scenarios, but only a few games will try to develop other form of interactions and clearly different game plays.
Since the episode of gamergate a few years ago and partly thanks to the amazing work of feminist scholars such as, among others, Anita Sarkeesian at feminist frequency, we grew to a better understanding of the gendered relations in video games. Since then a number of new games personify women and girl heroins (“The last of us” or “Child of light” for example) and transform some aspects of the game play, ("Never alone " or “Gone home”)or change the graphics to feminist friendly topics.
There are also a number of attempts to build more collaborative environments, and more experimental format, such as for example Tacoma (by the same studio as gone home) or Iconoclast (proposing a narrative about reparation and collaboration) but as of now there is still no feminist collaborative attempt to develop a game that would allow one to explore trans species trans gender and feminist principles.
This post is an attempt to start a discussion on what a feminist video games could be, which elements it should bring together, what kind of interaction principles could be transformed.
This is not about changing the graphics of space invaders but about rethinking what are the principles of a feminist video game. This would certainly radically change the structure of the game.
The questions that arise and that should be represented by the game could be:
Ways to bring different contextual interaction, between the characters and the environment.
Tran species personification
De-constructing the systems which perpetuate inequalities
Connections between body, the theories of consciousness, perception, world of objects
Ecology and the new materialism
Collaborative model of interaction.
GAME PRINCIPLES
To better understand what a feminist video game can be, a good start could be to state a few principles based on Exchange and collaboration that we could start from, such as:
- Permeability of the environment where exchange between the characters and their context is rendered possible and visible.
- Game principles that are not based on the personification of players but on the multiplicity of their actions.
- Control and mastery is not at the core of the game, one action can and most probably has multiple effects.
ENVIRONMENT
Dynamic Map from a territory in constant construction
Y a-t-il de la gravité?
MOTOR ELEMENTS OF THE GAME
Recuperation
Reconstruction
Transformation
Permeability
MODALITIES OF INTERACTION
Trace that follows the contact points of the characters in the game.
Exchange furtif,
Transmition of information between different beings
Mutation
Reproduction
Symbiosis
CHARACTERS
Lombric: made from reproducible blocs that can spread through the game
Roots: adaptative element that moves from ground to water
Overflyers: Foireflyes and other unicorns who emerge from the different surfaces and transform their environment.pendant les différentes surfaces.
Butinage,
Etalement des savoirs échange des processus,
Passage transition, création de ponts.
Adapteurs. Ecosystèmes
Nécro: Accumulation of goods from etraction. Each extracted layer provokes the fragility of the preceding structure. Leading to a closing up upon oneself.
Il faudrait déterminer un calendrier.