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• 1 2023-11-29T19:40:08+00:00 Self + Self Relationship 11 Mica Murdoch plain 2023-12-08T16:31:08+00:00 Digital media’s ability to connect with their player by allowing for a player’s input allows it to be an extremely precise media for introspection. We see ourselves in games, and the conflict in the story is often projected beyond the game by tying the character’s struggle to the player’s struggle. As we try, fail, and try again, growing our skill or testing our luck, we are, in solidarity with the player character, fighting the same fight. What, then, if that fight is against oneself? The intrapersonal relationship is perhaps the most complex and most crucial in everyday life, and can be difficult to understand or change. An artistic medium allows us to give form to some aspect of this abstract: our self image, our neuroses, our ideal. In games, these forms can interact with the player and their character. By fighting and persevering against, befriending and allying with, or utilizing as a tool, one can generate questions about real world experiences with complex emotions and our understanding of ourselves.
  
  I chose 2 games, Celeste by Maddy Thorson and Adventures with Anxiety by Nicky Case, which demonstrate these themes particularly well. I also made a short game of my own, which also tries to explore these themes.