• Sonic the Hedgehog 2 contains data for a cut level called “Genocide City”
  • Obscure Wolfenstein clone Corridor 7 randomly jumpscares the player with a red demon face during regular gameplay
  • Dog Island, a Wii game in which all the characters are adorable chibi dogs, has a subplot about a doctor whose botched treatment caused the death of someone he loved many years ago. He still sees her in his dreams, unable to let go or move on.
  • Dort_Owl [they/them, any]@hexbear.netEnglish
    20·
    8 months ago

    Literally every indie game: Here’s a cute whimsical adventure that’s actually about trauma

    I mean that with love, it’s just something I’ve noticed

      • QuietCupcake [any, they/them]@hexbear.netEnglish
        12·
        8 months ago

        Laika: Aged Through Blood (not necessarily billed as whimsical, it let’s you know it deals with some harsh shit right away, but still it’s cute lil furry protagonists living in a cute animal town, but a story rife with and revolving around seriously fucked up shit, like all the cw even csa, and is literally about trauma.)

        Night in the Woods (more cute lil animal critters in a happy go lucky mining town but actually about deep social issues like economic collapse, systemic violence, capitalism, cw! [child murder] and of course trauma)

        Sheepo(?) (Not sure but I thought this was about genocide too, could be wrong)

        Unravel (more about loss than trauma)

        Imp of the Sun (cute lil flame guy with little girl and grandma sidekick, actually about genocide and they’re the only people left)

        Celeste (classic example of a fun adventure mountain climbing but is a surprisingly poignant story about deep traumatic pain and learning to cope with/overcome it.)

        Bastion (Also not sure about this one. Isn’t it also about trauma and genocide?)

        The Last Campfire (pretty much exactly Dort_Owl’s description)

        Arise: A Simple Story (Again, literally about trauma and loss)

        Smoke and Sacrifice

        Candle the Power of the Flame

        And I know there are others that aren’t coming to mind atm.

        Edit: formatting

        • QuietCupcake [any, they/them]@hexbear.netEnglish
          4·
          8 months ago

          A few more I just thought of, and in addition to the other list BeamBrain made:

          Spiritfarer (Entirely about learning to accept mortality, mourning, aging and death, but VERY whimsical and playful on the surface. You are a sweet young girl who is actually the captain of the ferry of death, giving the dead their last wishes before leading them into oblivion… by farming and cooking and sight-seeing)

          Gris (more dreamlike than whimsical, but again reveals through the game it is meant to be explicitly about trauma)

          The next three I haven’t played, but by what I know of them…

          Farewell North (About healing after trauma, and admittedly as the name implies, saying the last goodbye, but on the surface about a dog making the world colorful by shepherding, freeing wildlife, etc.)

          Beacon Pines (another story-book kind of adventure with furry animal characters on the surface but has some really dark twists about trauma and existential dread underneath).

          Wanderstop (a tea shop in a magical forest! Oh wait it’s dealing heavily with burnout and psychological pain/trauma.)

          The list just goes on.

          There’s even studies that have been done addressing how trauma in indie games is a thing.!

          Trauma Representations in Video Games

          Over the last few years, the videogame community has seen an increase in the visibility of indie games, particularly ones that focus on serious subjects. Given the name “empathy games” by Minority Media’s Vander Caballero in his 2014 GDC talk, this sub-genre is known for its intense and meaningful narratives that often bring to light traumatic experiences.

          Also…

          Trauma in Games: Narrativizing Denied Agency, Ludonarrative Dissonance and Empathy Play