Invictus and Video Games | Why we Love Challenge, Confronting Depression and Designing Difficulty

The poem Invictus has become an emblem of the resilience of the Human condition. In this video, I examine how Video Games use challenge to get us to become our best selves, and how invictus is built into the Language of Video Games.

Whether it be Through the narrative, the Mechanics or an emergent mix of the two, games are uniquely situated as an artform to help us conquer our demons, relate with humans of every creed, and celebrate our capacity to triumph in the face of Hardship. I delve into the history and relevance of Invictus, the psychology and philosophy of play and depression, as well as try to examine how designers have crafted experiences that push us to our limit.

Credits

Books
The Art of Failure -Jesper Juul
The Hero with a thousand faces – Joseph Campbell
Antifragile – Nassim Taleb
Free to Learn – Peter Grey
Children and Play in the Holocaust – George Eisen
What Video games teach us about Learning – James Gee
Raph Koster – A Theory of Fun

-GDC Erin Hoffman Precision of Emotion
– Nicole Lazzaro 4 keys of fun
-GDC Brian Upton The play of stillness

Additional Footage
-Dark Souls Boss Fight Database
– Metal Gear Solid 4 TetraNinja

The Game Overanalyser

Source