After slamming his bedroom door for the millionth time, he screamed at me, “You don’t understand me; step into my world, mom!”. That’s when it hit me: the understanding, not the door. It was so simple. Why had I not thought of it earlier? This was a moment of truth, and step in, I did! […]
Embodied ‘difference’ in Stray
Developed by BlueTwelve Studio, Stray is a game in which players embody a cat looking for his family. After the beautiful opening scene, the cat falls into another world called the Walled City. There, he meets a robot, ‘B-12’. Eventually, they join; the robot wants to free all the robot inhabitants, while the cat wants […]
Life is Strange – Existentialism in Video Games
Life is Strange is a video game of the ‘coming of age’ genre developed by Dontnod Entertainment. While the game caters to an 18+ audience, its storyline, through the existential journey of its protagonist, Maxine Caulfield (Max), has a broader appeal (I should know, I’m not a teenager anymore!). The first game was released in […]
Two sides of a coin?
I am a loud proponent of neurodiversity. Maybe the reason why the idea resonates with me so strongly lies within 4 letters: ADHD. The concept is recent and possibly too young still to be a model in its own right and be allowed to take a seat next to its cousins the medical, social and […]
Who is your Avatar?
The term ‘avatar’ originates from the Sanskrit word ‘avatāra’ which could be translated as ‘manifestation’ or ‘appearance’ of divinity into the physical world. Today, these ‘cartoonesque’ images have been democratised, but unfortunately, they also lost their mystical aura. Even though many people only see a two-dimensional image, for others, their avatars may be closer to a […]