Hello and welcome to another Side-Quest episode of Talk This! It’s Dangerous to Podcast Alone! We’re talking about Emma’s choice of topic: games as escapism. You know which game is not escapist? The Escapists. Yeah, I said it.
As always, you can listen to our podcast basically anywhere you want. Check it out on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and Pandora (or head over to our episodes page for even more options). Or just listen below!
The Topic
What is escapism? How do games serve as a vehicle for escapism? Is that a good thing or a bad thing or both? Particularly in these times, how can escapism through games be helpful or harmful? What about gamification in our real lives, is that a form of escapism?
The Actual Discussion
We talk about the types of game that are generally considered escapist, and how the role of the player is inherently more suited to escapism than the role of the viewer. We talk about the different ways you can define describing something as “mindless” and ask whether escapism can be broken down into categories. We talk about Animal Crossing. Will we ever escape Animal Crossing?
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Enjoy the episode! Tell us what you think in the comments or on social media. Make sure to check out last week’s episode and look forward to next week’s where we’re talking about Oddworld and Disco Elysium.
And don’t forget to check out our YouTube channel for the Play This! series, Flashback Fridays, Clickbait Boyfriend Behind-The-Scenes, and other random content! There’s still that new video about Trails of Cold Steel on there! Give it a watch and….maybe a like?
Make an effort this week too, if you can.