Turnt, Trippy, and Tipsy: Video Games, Drugs, and Allo-Ludic Play
Anglica Wratislaviensia January 18, 2024 Mike Piero 1 citation
Video games increasingly depict drugs, yet game studies has lagged behind film and television studies in systematically analyzing these representations. This essay offers a flexible taxonomy for studying how virtual drugs in games connect to real-world social inequalities, especially in the United States. Drawing on Donna Haraway's cyborg politics and Steven Conway's ludic framework (extended with allo-ludic play), the author examines stimulants, depressants, and psychedelics in both Triple-A and indie games. The analysis argues that studying drugs in video games is important for understanding the intertwined histories of the gaming medium and changing US drug policies, laws, and enforcement, particularly how in-game drugs map onto oppressive and discriminatory conditions outside the game.