cultural commentary
Video Games and the Art of Empathy
by Jaime Margary
The question as to what defi nes art remains
disputed largely due to the cyclic nature of
new creative mediums fl ourishing. Disregard-
ing established defi nitions of artistic legiti-
macy, these outlets fi nd their form and then
evolve, pushing through unfamiliar territory.
If we must insist on greeting these new ideas
with a litmus test for art, I’d suggest we—in
order to understand what art is—should rath-
er ask, “Why?”
through vague chimes and physical gestures.
Together, you quietly fi gure out your path
across sand-buried ruins, sneak past omi-
nous sentries, and ultimately push through a
snowstorm as you march up the mountain.
Exhausted, you nearly die side-by-side in the
snow before one last burst of hope sends you
and your companion walking into the light
at the top of the mountain. After the credits
roll, you learn that your fellow voyager was,
in fact, controlled by another real-life player,
discreetly and randomly matched up with you
by the game. When I completed Journey, as
I pondered that I had just played a two-hour
metaphor of life, love, death, and the boon
of companionship, I received a kind message
from the stranger I was matched with: “It was
wonderful playing with you, partner. Thank
you.”
Why does gazing at a painting affect us? Why
do we read poems, listen to music, or enjoy
theater? Is it because we have an instinctive
desire to feel outside of our own frame of
mind? Empathy coaxes us to momentarily
step away from our own inner voices, the
loudness of the emotions we trap ourselves
in, in order to relate to someone else’s reality.
By virtually inserting us in the role of another
person, one particular medium has steadily Other examples include Fumito Ueda’s
matured throughout the years: video games. Shadow of the Colossus, a game about a
young man whose grief over a woman’s pass-
As with movies, comics, and street art, game ing leads him to a calamitous pact. Life Is
auteurs have been breaking the public’s ex- Strange places you in the role of a young art
pectations with the infl ux of narratives that student, dealing with such sensitive subject
cannot be told through other channels with- matters that the game comes with a merited
out losing their emotional core. Nonetheless, trigger warning. Braid, a brilliant, mind-bend-
it would seem most video games choose to ing, and ultimately satirical take on the Super
pander to a survivalist need and, often, pro- Mario Brothers “rescue the princess” trope,
vide a world-saving justifi cation for aggres- ends in your discovery that the entire game
sion, revenge, or the eradication of an adver- represents the stages of realization that you’ve
sary. It is a primal emotion easily employed by played the villain in a toxic relationship; the
the gaming industry. Faced with a
wall of violent adventures seeming
to encourage one to “take this gun
and indiscriminately mow down
anything that looks like this,” a
non-gamer may, understandably,
walk away unimpressed. There is,
however, an abundance of games
that seek to evoke a different set of
emotions, presenting themselves
not only as a valid method of ex-
pression, but also as an invaluable
tool for exercising empathy.
princess, a metaphor for a partner who is in no
need of assistance—she has already rescued
herself and is willingly in the arms of another.
And That Dragon, Cancer, a hauntingly beau-
tiful yet devastating retelling of the untimely
death of the game creator’s four-year-old son,
lays bare a family’s love, hope, and heartache
from a particularly intimate perspective.
As more young artists are exposed to exam-
ples like these, the fi eld of creative minds
drawn to use the medium in ambitious new
ways grows further. Perhaps rather than sim-
ply discourage children from playing video
games, we could instead suggest games that
expose them to different emotional palates
other than just id-driven escapism. Encour-
aging and rewarding creators who dedicate
themselves to help explore the full spectrum
of human emotion will ultimately result in a
wider selection to choose from.
If art is to be defined by its ability to ask ques-
tions, as some propose, the question artistic
video game projects may seek to ask is how
willing a person is to see themselves in some-
one else’s shoes. Whatever form this question
may take, it will ultimately strengthen the
foundation of a more empathetic future, and
may indeed help save the world.
Strangers, digital illustration by Jaime Margary
Take, for instance, Journey, where
your robed avatar travels across
a desert, eventually running into
and bonding with a mysterious
traveler who joins you on your
trek to the top of a distant moun-
tain. No words are ever shared:
communication is mostly achieved
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