Video games, whether casual or “hardcore”, are oftentimes (but not always so obviously) lenses through which one can view patterns of everyday life, of mundane existence. At the same time, the advent of video games, or activities which are played and/or navigated on one’s technological device, has ushered in (or aided in ushering in) this ideal of “escapism”. With the increased societal emphasis on corporate advancement, optimization, and productivity, naturally giving rise to new technology in the process, these games are presently accessible, serving as an activity to pull one away from the stress and toil of the everyday. In a game like Stardew Valley for example, a meta element is at play, as the game starts a player in the position of working for “Joja”, the massive corporation that amasses the most profit and in the process, subjects your avatar to a life of stress in this fictional world. Luckily, as a player, you have the chance to escape this reality, as you inherit land in the valley, near Pelican Town and become a farmer while convening with the townspeople. As someone who is heavily on the Internet, I remember a distinct attitude that popularized around the middle of the first COVID-19 lockdown. People (especially on Tiktok, a platform most popular with the 16-25 year old demographic known as Gen Z) expressed infatuation with the ideal of abandoning their 9 to 5, dead-end job and fleeing the pressurized landscape of urban life, in favor of a pastoral existence to run a farm… or something in that vein. Much of what this sentiment and description evokes is in alignment with the well-liked aesthetic, “cottage core”, which went hand in hand with the common online encouragement to “romanticize your life”. (Ones life can literally become romanticized through visually pleasing, relaxing yet rewarding games like Stardew Valley). It is similar to the way in which early Tumblr users, utilizing the long form text feature, would make posts expressing aspects of their dream life. Inherently, this included the desire to leave behind the pressures of society, such as a job and general societal expectations. Moreover, this same feeling is recalled even as far back as Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina, through Levin’s deep-seated desire to commune with “common” folk and mow in the fields, which would inherently require him to withdraw from aristocratic society. Stardew Valley touches on this exact sensibility, as you begin the game not immediately from the position of a pastoral farmer in an adorable village, but as a bored cog in the machine of capitalism. The game lets you fulfill the action of leaving this existence for something better. Evidently, this phenomena has not only influenced Gen Zs on Tiktok, but has been prevalent for as long as society has imposed expectations on its citizens. With the advent of the Internet came the spread of opinions and ideas, the spread of common sentiments linked to certain evocative imagery, producing trends and hashtags like #cottagecore. But it seems that as society moves further and further toward technological progress, and farther from the actualization of an ideal world of no labor, the more video games like Stardew Valley become embedded with and important to our existence, and the more important it becomes to “romanticize our lives”. What I am getting at specifically is Marx’s concept of alienation in capitalist society. What causes us to feel alienated from other people and also ourselves is the capitalist system itself. Technological advancement is not only a bonus that helps us improve our everyday lives, but also so integral to this landscape that at a certain point, we cannot separate ourselves from it. Meaning, technology and video games like Stardew Valley, while fulfilling a particular fantasy, is still embedded into the societal narrative, as technology and capitalism (in the modern day) are inherently linked. However, is this fully true? Perhaps video games are in some ways the new novel, a new literary medium in this technological landscape that presents itself more and more easily as reality. Video games truly do help us escape, or do they just “isolate” us (as Marx proclaims) from connecting with ourselves? Are we alienating ourselves, escaping society negatively or positively, neither, or perhaps both?
