Author: ChelseaAure

Chelsea Aure
Professor Nicholas O’Brien
HAR-495: Beyond Triple-A
Final Paper: The Grieving Process in Triple-A & Non-Triple-A Games
16 December 2016

T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S

Introduction……………………………………………………………………….3

That Dragon, Cancer………………………………………………………………5 Brothers……………………………………………………………………………7

Compare & Contrast Conclusion Personal Anecdote Image References Works Cited

Introduction
Dealing with loss is never easy, but everyone goes through it in life. Writers, artists, screenwriters, and game developers, too, go through loss and may choose to address grief as a theme in their respective art form. For example, in loving memory of someone special to them, writers may write poetry, a memoir, or a book, artists may paint a picture or create a collage of memories, screenwriters may write a movie script based on a true story, and game designers may develop a game. Loss can come in many ways: death of a loved one, death of a friend, and even death of a pet. Sometimes death is given a timeline (prognosis of living with a disease), other times suddenly (heart attack, accidents, murder, suicide, etc.) When someone goes through loss, the grieving process takes place. The grieving process has five stages: denial and isolation, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance (SOURCE). In denial and isolation, feelings of shock, numbness, and disbelief take place, and the grieving person tends to deny that death or loss actually took place. The next stage of grief is anger, and can be witnessed in different ways. Anger can be towards family, friends, God or a higher power, the world, and yourself. This stage is fueled by guilt that something could’ve been done to prevent the loved one from dying. No matter how irrational the stage of anger can be, it “is a natural response to loss”. The stage of bargaining takes place when the griever tries to bargain with God or a higher power to “do anything” to keep/bring back the deceased here on Earth. Bargaining helps the griever focus on the past so that he or she does not have to feel the pains of the present moment. At some point, the stages of grief may turn into depression, bringing upon feelings of emptiness and sadness. The experience and feelings of depression leads up to the final stage of acceptance. Acceptance does not mean that we will forget our loved one; it means that the memory of the lost loved one will be with the griever, and that the griever is ready to try and move on–– “to accommodate to this world without [the] loved one” (SOURCE). Though it seems to be standard to go through these five stages in order, the grieving process does not always happen in order, nor does every grieving person have to go through each stage. There is also “no set ‘time limit’ for the emotions of grief” (SOURCE). The grieving process more so guides those who are mourning understand where they are in terms of bereavement. Just as the five stages of grieving is a guide to those going through loss, art forms such as books, paintings, movies, and games can help those going through a tough time. These art forms with the theme of grief tend to be empathetic and somewhat therapeutic to those going through loss. Though movies, paintings, and books can move the feelings of a person going through the grieving process, games have a different way of connecting with the grieving person. Games allow the person to play through the motions of life before death occurs within the game; this can simulate what it is like to go through loss for those who have not experienced loss in real life yet. Games cannot provide the same support as psychological counseling, but they can provide perspective and simulate what the player is going through. Games are helpful in the sense that they can provide insight into what loss is like so that the player can understand the suffering of another. Games can also be an outlet for anger and confusion for those grieving for a lost loved one. Two very powerful games that focus on the theme of grief are That Dragon, Cancer and Brothers: a Tale of Two Sons. That Dragon, Cancer is a non-Triple-A games that is about grief and loss, whereas Brothers: a Tale of Two Sons is a Triple-A game that is about family, and that touches on grief and loss as well. Because games are goal-oriented compared to other art forms, the two games That Dragon, Cancer and Brothers: a Tale of Two Sons can help assist (the) player(s) get through the grieving process in a healthy manner.

That Dragon, Cancer
That Dragon, Cancer is a video game based on a true story that shows grief and loss in such an honest way. The game is based on the experiences that Ryan and Amy Green went through after their son Joel was diagnosed with terminal childhood cancer. It is a point-and-click style adventure game where the player gets to explore the raw emotions the Green’s went through, and where the player gets to see the mental and emotional strength the Green’s had to put up. This game really touches the emotions of the players since the player gets to see first hand what it was like going through each stage of Joel’s terminal cancer. Even if the player has never had a friend or loved one going through cancer, this game provides an empathetic approach towards the subjects of loss and cancer through linear game play and storytelling. That Dragon, Cancer is excellent at simulating emotions through the game play, despite ever showing facial expressions from each character in the game. This is important because …The game also shows the parents’ strong faith throughout the game, as seen through Amy humming church hymns to Joel, and writing a journal entry to find God’s grace throughout the hard time she is going through (IMAGE REFERENCE). Sometimes when there is nothing medicine or technology can do to help with illness, turning to faith helps loved ones cope with what is to come, and the grief that comes with it. The stages of grief are not explicitly mentioned, but rather, are seen in scenes throughout the game. When in the room hearing the final prognosis of Joel’s cancer in the chapter, I’m Sorry Guys, It’s Not Good, the stages of denial and isolation can be seen, and accurately depicts the shock of hearing that Joel’s cancer is terminal (IMAGE REFERENCE). Sometime later in the game during the Drowning chapter when Ryan is drowning and Amy is in a boat with Joel with no oars (IMAGE REFERENCE), their fighting demonstrates the grieving stage of anger. The player may feel strong emotions of sadness for the Green family as he or she goes through Ryan and Kate’s emotional rollercoaster ride as Joel’s illness progresses. Seeing the grieving process take place in a sincere way can help a grieving player know that they are not alone and can help a non-grieving person understand what a grieving person may be going through. Additionally, seeing the end of the game as acceptance of death and afterlife can be a sign of hope for a player going through loss. It gives hope to the grieving player by that they letting him or her know the pain is not forever if they eventually learn to accept death and that their loved one is in a better place. Though That Dragon, Cancer does a good job at simulating what it is like to watch a loved one die from terminal illness, the point of view can be confusing at times. Throughout the game, the player is just an outsider looking in as the game is a point-and-click style adventure game, but the angles and point of views from which some of the scenes were shot can confuse players. For example, it can be misconstrued by the player that the game is seen through the eyes of a random duck at the very beginning of the game (IMAGE REFERENCE) and during the Drowning chapter when Ryan is in the water (IMAGE REFERENCE). Additionally, its play style can be confusing at times. Some parts dig deep into emotions of the player– like listening to a heart-wrenching voicemail from Amy to Ryan, and all of a sudden, a mini game (like go karts) takes place at the hospital (IMAGE REFERENCE). At the very least, the game could have a little bit more structure when it comes to these mini games. However, it seems as if this choice of play style was executed to illustrate the highs and lows of emotions during terminal illness. The one mini-game within That Dragon, Cancer that made actually sense and seemed to have a direct purpose in the game was when Joel’s brothers asked the parents to tell them a bedtime story. This mini-game takes place in the chapter Joel, the Baby Knight, and the storyline of the mini-game tells how Joel was a warrior fighting the dragon that was called cancer; this is where the game gets its name, as a side note. Unfortunately, no matter how hard Joel fought against the dragon and no matter how much he got help from other people within his fight in the game, the game would not end until Joel “ran out of lives” and died from the dragon’s fire (IMAGE REFERENCE). This mini-game demonstrates the stage of acceptance and how the Ryan and Amy accepted that Joel’s cancer was terminal and that no matter how hard he fought and no matter how many treatments he went through, his body would inevitably succumb to the cancer. The game also shows how the parents had to gently break the news to Joel’s siblings. Ryan and Amy use strong examples of faith and God when telling the bedtime story of Joel, the Baby Knight to their children in hopes that they, too, would bravely accept Joel’s death when the time comes.

Brothers
Another game that touches upon death and family matters is the game Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons developed by Starbreeze Studios and published by 505Games. The game Brothers is an adventure game presented from a third-person view. In the beginning, it starts off with one of the brothers, Naiee, showing respect at his mother’s tombstone and flashes back to how he could not save her from drowning because he doesn’t know how to swim. Later on, the player learns that the father is sick, and that Naiee and his older brother, Naia, must find the fountain of youth to save the father from dying. Unfortunately, as Naia and Naiee approach the fountain of youth, Naia gets killed in the process. Naiee tries to save him with the water from the fountain of youth, but it is too late. At that point, Naiee had to complete the journey after putting his older Brother to rest.

Compare & Contrast Brothers and Dragon Cancer Conclusion Personal Anecdote Image References Works Cited

After reading Play Matters by Sicart and How Games Move Us by Isbister, this reading actually caught me off guard of how casual it was. I was honestly expecting another analysis on how games and play have an effect on our lives and our surroundings, but Embed with Games by Cara Ellison was very conversational….very raw and real. I appreciated certain quotes from the interview, especially the first interview with Karla Zimonja. There was so much that went on that I have a response to. It is as if I have so much to say, but I’m not sure how to respond to all of it? You know that feeling when your friend sends you an engaging 5 paragraph long message, and all of these thoughts come to mind, but it takes you about hours to think about what to even say and you forget to even respond? Yeah, I think that run-on sentence accurately describes what I’m feeling with this excerpt. That being said, I’m going to pick and choose quotes that I relate to/ quotes that I have a response to.

Anyways, one of the quotes that got to me was “I HAVE A FUCKING AGENDA”. Yes, in fact everyone in the game industry and in the surrounding world has an agenda. Yet, everyone’s agenda is different, and thus, we cannot judge others based on their agenda, nor can we assume how busy one’s agenda is like, based on one’s gender. And because we all have fucking agendas, we all should strive to be on time for meetings and events (*glares at myself*). For example: if on my agenda I am scheduled to meet with someone, and that someone has back to back bookings with people who also have their own agendas, I am going to set literally everyone’s fucking agenda back (which I probably do often, and I’m a terrible person, and I’m sorry).

Another quote, or should I say block of text, which I related to was the part how she kinda burned out on animation, and how she switched from an illustrator major to an animation major while in college. Major kudos to her, especially since I can totally relate. I’ve switched my major around 3 times while here at Stevens. Sometimes, you think you want to do something until something else makes sense to you.

I also appreciated how words like “goofy” (“I made all kinds of goofy mistakes”) and “squoosh” ( were used as adjectives. It just makes the interview very candid and real.

 

The second interview with Nina Freeman was really interesting. It was cool to learn that she programs and designs all of her games by herself, and that she is currently working on her 9th independent game. I appreciate her poetry and her openness towards sexuality. Like the interview with Zimonja, I was able to relate to some of the quotes in Freeman’s interview as well.

One of the quotes that related to me was about poetry and how “it’s a drug. It only lasts for so long” and how she needs to keep on creating more and more in order to feel those short term feelings of accomplishment. When I am in a groove with art, it gets super addicting, and I never feel good enough unless I keep on creating. If I stop, I look that spark, I unfortunately lose it for a while.

Last but not least, I’d like to end with this quote that hits home because it’s extremely relatable: “I feel alot like I am vulnerable all the time…which is why I get hurt all the time.” This was Ellison’s response to Freeman when talking about being in love. First of all, this quote is actually me while playing video games because I. ALWAYS. DIE. IN. VIDEO. GAMES….or, I just get critical damage real fast or whatever, depending on the game I play. I, for one, am super vulnerable in games, and it takes me a few tries to get to the next level or chapter in whatever I play. This quote also delves into my own love life, which I won’t talk about much. But if I were to say something about it, I get hurt all the time.

 

I kind of see that my response is just as candid as these interviews were. I honestly just let my mind run, and was as real as could be. Like I said, there’s alot to say, but at the same time, nothing to say at all, so I’m gonna peace out right here.

In Chapter 4 of Isbister’s How Games Move Us, she discusses three examples of tactics in which game designers use in terms of bridging distance to create intimacy and connection between players: 1.) the sharing/exchanging of digital objects, 2.) the cultivation of “summer camp”– like contents for play, and 3.) the shaping of hobbyist and activist communities around play.
I personally related to the first tactic the most because I never been to summer camp before, and I’m not really part of an active gaming community (although I’m highly debating on building a Steam account and reinstalling Pokemon Go back onto my phone– it was too buggy and too addictive).

For us humans, we crave interaction with other beings. We show care towards each other, and sometimes, it’s the little gestures that bring us together: writing a note on a sticky-note on the counter for your loved one to see, sharing food with a friend, or doing simple favors like taking notes in class for a sick friend or holding the door for someone who needs a hand. However, sometimes we aren’t physically around the people we care about and still want to show our care and continue the bond we once had. Games have the ability to bring us together and bridge the distance we have with the people we care about. When my dad could no longer speak due to aphasia from brain cancer, we played a game called “Sequence”. It was a challenging partner board game, similar to Connect 4, and it was our way of bringing our family together and laughing, despite hard times. One rule of the game was not being able to speak to your gaming partner, which made things work. It was as if the rhythm of play did the talking and the bonding for us, and I’ll always treasure that.

Digital games can also bring people together. Isbister talks about Words With Friends (WWF) and  how this game allows people to engage in a slow form of coexperience, and how it’s a lightweight way of keeping in touch through the game which happens to be on social media. I guess you can say that I tend to go with a heavier way of keeping in touch with friends, but in short bursts of time, as opposed to the lightweight, slow form of WWF. When I’m away from my friends, but we somehow want to have fun with each other, we opt to play TetrisFriends, an online Tetris website where you can opt to play with the TetrisFriends community, or build rooms where you can play privately with your personal group of friends up to 6 players. The game is live, there’s a live chat screen on the right side of the ongoing game, and each game lasts for as long as one’s Tetris build does not top out. You can also send gifts or coins to each other on TetrisFriends. Though it is not the same as being in physical contact with my friends and/or family, TetrisFriends is definitely powerful in the sense of bridging the gap and distance between us, and letting us bond and show care through digital means.

As I was reading Chapter 3 of Isbister’s book How Games Move Us: Emotion by Design, I couldn’t agree more that our body affects our emotions. I concur with the idea that gaming with physical motion or a better posture can lead to a more positive gameplay experience as opposed to gaming while sedentary. I’m going to compare my experiences playing Solitaire on the computer and playing Just Dance 2 on the Wii. While playing Solitaire, my mind is kept busy, but I am not interacting with anybody. Though I am challenging my mind, I feel relaxed, but I still feel somewhat bored, as if I could be having more fun. While playing Just Dance 2, I am usually playing with at least a partner or a group of people. My body is constantly in motion, and watching other people dance (sometimes off beat or funnily) makes the experience of playing even more fun than if I were just dancing alone. Katherine Isbister states in Chapter 3 of How Games Move Us: Emotion by Design that “not only do our movements shape our own emotions, but they also affect anyone who’s watching us– emotions are, in a sense, ‘contagious.'” I can vouch that the laughter is contagious, as is the motivation to dance when everyone else around you is doing it too while playing Just Dance 2. Though playing sedentary and solo games like Solitaire or any other video games can keep your mind entertained while your body is relaxed, moving around while playing video games like Just Dance 2 definitely can lead to a higher positive impact on the body and on the game experience, due to the release of body chemicals from physical activity.

In Chapter 1 of How Games Move Us by Katherine Isbister, she talks about how games set themselves apart from other media when it comes to emotional impact. Unlike movies, games can leave its players with a different set of emotions, depending on how the players choices throughout the game. If the player had made the “right” choices at the right time, the player could feel proud and accomplished by the end of the game. On the other hand, players can feel a sense of guilt, given that they had made mistakes throughout the game and lost at the end. I believe that we can connect to games a little more deeply than we can to movies. As players of the games we play, there are consequences that come with our actions, as opposed to passively going through scenes in movies and trying to relate to them with our personal lives. Games are more life-like, in the sense that in reality, we too are given a set of choices and consequences are different based on the choices we make.
For my midterm paper, I played three different RPG/simulating text-adventures that give players the options of how to react and speak in each respective game. The one game that really hit my emotions was The Walking Dead: Season 1 because it simulated me having to kill people (dead people…?), and it never crossed my mind having or wanting to ever kill someone. The other day I watched a sad Pixar short film in which the son accidentally kills the father (http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/gossip/pixar-releases-dark-new-short-film-article-1.2838212). Though I thought the animation was super depressing, I still felt a little more depressed killing people in a game because I did it out of my own will, if that makes any sense.

In this week’s reading, Sicart starts off talking about the art of game design. He discusses the definition of design for several paragraphs, and places his own perspective of what he thinks about design. I’m not going to lie, I got lost reading Chapter 7 because of how repetitive Sicart seemed to be when he repeats ideas that he spoke about in previous chapters (although now that I type that, I think about how he, as an author, was attempting to be playful in terms of his writing. I guess I just wasn’t too thrilled about it). Sicart talks about how game design involves materiality, people, economics, politics, aesthetics, creation, production, consumption, and distribution – pretty much what this class is about.

After elaborating on game design, game designers, and play, he goes on to talk about how game design has been sometimes compared to architecture. In the end, he kills the notation of game design, and states, “Long live the architecture of play.” To be honest, I didn’t understand why “game design” and “architecture of play” couldn’t be synonymous to him. Both game designers and architectures of play create space for people to explore and express themselves, and the space to play. To him, the difference is that architects of play “make people play” and game designers do not..? To me, game designers make people want to play. Like what Sicart said, design involves materiality, people, economics, aesthetics, and etc., so game designers should know how to make people want to play. Sure, this is not exactly the same thing as architectures of play making people play, but it’s close enough to be almost the same thing from my perspective, and not enough to say that “Game design is dead.” Game design is well alive in our society. Look at young children making up games for fun in the park. Log into Steam and see all of these games created by countless people. If both are not in your agenda, look on your phone and go on the app store to see trending games. If I’m not mistaken, game designers are the people who brought both those gaming applications to life. As an aside, yes, I see children who make up their own games as amateur game designers because they used their creative minds to think of the idea of play, came up with rules, and put it into action for the sake of enjoying themselves.  And if it seems dead to Sicart, maybe he just needs to look Beyond Triple-A.

In the next chapters of Play Matters, the beauty of play and the spaces where play takes place are discussed. In Chapter 4, Sicart questions how spaces for play are created and what the parent species of play is. Play can take place in any given location; it all begins with an appropriate time and having a mindset for play itself (i.e. imagination), which to me are both the parent species of play.

Sicart says, “If play spaces are defined by something, that is the openness to appropriation, the ways in which they let us play, giving us a place to be.” If I am asked the question, “Where do you play?”, I can’t help but think of several different places. I play in the music room where I can let my inner opera singer let loose (a girl can dream, can’t she?). I play when I’m in the swimming pool, imagining about all of the Olympic races I could be racing if I were not a lazy potato in real life. I mindlessly play my laptop and phone when I’m bored, just to keep my mind busy when I don’t want to be actually busy with homework or other responsibilities. Wherever I’m with my friends and family, I can just be myself and turn off my filter. Most of the time, it’s a fun thing to do until your conservative aunt questions your choice of words and language. Of all kinds of play though, I cannot deny that my favorite kind of play is whenever I’m with my dog. This is because I believe dogs have this innate playful manner. Therefore, whenever I’m with my dog or whenever I see a dog in public, I automatically think of petting and playing with them– dogs appropriate play at any given moment and, therefore, give me a place to play in any given location.

Going back to idea of mindlessly playing on my laptop and phone…
I remember when I was a kid, I used to play CD-ROM games on my big Windows computer after pre-school until around 1st grade. My computer created a playground for me when I wasn’t allowed to go outside when my parents were too busy to watch me. I’d play Freddi Fish, Putt-Putt, and Blue’s Clues problem solving games. Sicart talks about Proteus as an interactive software where players are free to allow themselves to enter a state in which they become the subject of experience and inquiry. Looking back, I thought it was cool that I got to control the characters in the games that I played, and that I built an emotional connection with the characters as well. As a kid, it’s nice to feel important– I definitely felt important after accomplishing each task and finishing each CD-ROM game time after time.

Sicart continues to discuss the beauty of play in Chapter 5. He questions if play is an artistic manifestation and why play is beautiful. To me, it all goes back to the parent species of play– an appropriate time and imagination. Play is definitely a beautiful thing when people come together to enjoy something, whether it’s for a sports game or out of pure imagination. It was really humbling to see the kids I was lifeguarding play on the grass with my dog and play games in the pool that they made up. I asked the parents if they had smartphones, and they refused to get them phones until high school. To me, there are many kinds of play that are beautiful, like tennis, dance, gymnastics, and orchestratras/music concerts. However, seeing old school imaginative play at the ages of 5, 7, and 12 was such a beauty to me considering how little you see kids play “pretend” and how much you see kids on their smartphones.

 

When I think of the word “play”, it brings me back to my childhood when I would ask my sister, my cousins, or my schoolmates, “Will you please play with me?” If I was told yes, simple games such as hide-and-seek, hand games, or toys would be played. After reading the first chapters of Play Matters, I realized that play is more than just games and having fun– it’s part of everyone’s lives depending on how you perceive the word and how you apply it to life. When Sicart mentioned that play is not necessarily fun, and that it can be dangerous, addicting, and destructive, and can cause physical injuries and emotional breakdowns (Sicart 3), I immediately associated the word play with my young life as an athlete.

Ever since I was 8 years old, I wanted to be a gymnast. Unfortunately, my sister was too involved in swimming, so my mother decided it was best to put me into swimming as well. Initially, I was upset, but I found out swimming wasn’t so bad. As I continued on with the sport, I naturally became better, stronger, and faster. However, I eventually saw the negative aspects of swimming. First off, I came to terms that I was obsessed with the sport. It was my #1 way of socialization since I didn’t have many friends in school growing up. My swimming friends went through the same struggles as I– 3 hours of training, hefty workouts, carb-loading, etc. – and thus we had a strong bond. I remember crying in my room when I wasn’t able to go to practice and questioning myself “What do I do with myself?!” I also remember crying when after weeks and weeks of training, and not reaching a personal best time at important swim meets. You could imagine how this caused an emotional breakdown. As much as swimming was mentally challenging, it was also physically challenging. I had to push through my asthma in and out of the pool, and learned how to properly heal my body after ankle injuries, one after the other (yes, swimmers get injured too).

Though it was tough being a young swimmer and dedicating half of my childhood to it, I can honestly vouch for its positive aspects as well. I’ve learned from my personal experience that swimming has taught me about my overall well-being, time management, and morals. In terms of well being, I’ve learned how important it is to eat a healthy and balanced diet. In middle school, I’d see girls eat just a bag of chips and a bottle of Snapple for lunch because it was the “in thing” to do. On the other hand, I knew I needed to fuel my body with the right nutrients, and always brought a full lunch box with a hearty sandwich, Gatorade, pretzels, and two pieces of fruit. When it came to time management, I’ve learned that I had limited amount of time to do homework and sleep as I incorporated approximately 3 hours worth of training every day. I had to give up watching television and playing my favorite computer games on weekdays. Like any other sport, morals definitely play a huge role to success. Being a swimmer taught me how to show true sportsmanship, how to respect my coaches, teammates and my opponents, and how to play by the rules. If I had chosen to go against any of the mentioned lessons learned, I would have felt morally guilty for my wrong actions.

Sicart said that “Play has a purpose of its own, but the purpose is not fixed” (Sicart 16). Having swimming as my main form of play growing up, I look back and know that the purpose of me being a swimmer (or a player of the swimming world) was to build the person I am today. I know how to care for my well-being, I know what is best when it comes to time management (even though as a college student, I’m not so consistent with it), and I know what my morals and values are. I’ve seen the negative side of play as well. Swimming mentally and physically challenged me and has pushed me to an emotional breakdown a couple of times, but I can definitely say that the positive aspects of the sport outweigh all of the negatives. Play is a fundamental part of our moral well-being and exploring who we really are, and I’m glad to say swimming was my form of play.