A decade of playing the world | Johanna Pirker | TEDxMedUniGraz
The speaker argues that escaping the comfort zone, inspired by exploring the development history of games from various countries, is key to gaining new perspectives applicable to education and research. The speaker illustrates this by recommending independent games like *A Year Walk* (Sweden) or *This War of Mine* (Poland) which prioritize cultural storytelling and difficult choices over typical blockbuster fare. The core advice is to look deeper than surface-level search results to uncover the stories and human elements behind creative works. ## Speakers & Context - Speaker: Unnamed individual; active as an educator, professor, scientist, game designer, and gamer. - Context: Presentation following various "interesting perspectives" from attendees; delivered to an audience that includes scholars and professionals. - Motivation: Seeking inspiration and motivation—both for professional work and personal gaming—especially when feeling stuck. ## Theses & Positions - Learning and inspiration derive from pushing outside of one's comfort zone. - Relying on familiar or blockbuster content (e.g., AAA games, major artists) creates similar experiences. - Personal growth comes from travel and meeting people from diverse backgrounds and stories. - Games can be a powerful medium for education and therapy, offering unique ways to experience concepts outside of simple entertainment. - Cultural and artistic works, including video games, are often undervalued and must be archived and treated as cultural goods. ## Concepts & Definitions - **Comfort Zone:** The familiar range of activities or ideas; leaving it is necessary for motivation and learning. - **Immersion:** The act of immersing oneself in an experience, such as traveling back in time or into another culture through media. - **Indie games:** Video games that represent an innovative alternative to large, established "triple A" productions. ## Mechanisms & Processes - **Inspiration Generation:** The process involves actively seeking novel inputs by engaging with diverse experiences (travel, people, niche media). - **Digital Travel/Research:** The method employed to simulate cultural exploration was setting a personal challenge: playing a game from every country in the world. - **Game Development Insight:** Initial research revealed that many people know the *creators* of art/books but know very little about the *developers* or the *history* of games from specific countries. - **Cultural Storytelling in Gaming:** The most effective games often tell personal stories from the country they represent, rather than simply showcasing the country's general assets. ## Timeline & Sequence - **Past Habit:** Played genres like *Fable*, *Gothic*, *GTA*, and *Diablo*, which largely fall under the "blockbuster game" category, resulting in similar experiences. - **Personal Insight:** Realized personal growth came most from traveling and meeting people with diverse backgrounds. - **Initial Challenge:** Set the personal challenge, *"A Year of Playing the World,"* aiming to play a game from every country. - **Research Depth:** Advanced the challenge by reaching out to developer communities globally to understand the origin stories of the games. - **Presentation Structure:** Presented three main findings derived from the project. ## Named Entities - **Machu Picchu** — Location featured in a game developed in Peru. - **Austria** — Country featured in the game *Path Out*; destination for a Syrian refugee protagonist. - **Syria** — Country whose civil war refugee experience is explored in the game *Path Out*. - **Pakistan, Iraq, Iran** — Countries mentioned where negative news headlines about games are more common than actual game development stories. ## Numbers & Data - **Number of Countries:** Target goal for the personal challenge was *"almost 200 countries."* - **Game Play Duration:** The indie game *A Year Walk* is described as a *"lovely indie game, probably 1 or 2 hour experience."* ## Examples & Cases - **Peru:** Game development history began when Peruvian hackers modded games to add their language, making the content accessible. - **Sweden:** Recommended game: *A Year Walk* (indie); teaches about Swedish folklore. - **Poland:** Recommended game: *This War of Mine*; focuses on the civilian perspective during war, forcing difficult decisions. - **France:** Recommended game: *Alone in the Dark* (1992); noted as the first survival horror game, innovative in mechanics and graphics. - **Path Out (Austria):** Video game based on the Syrian refugee story of Abdullah who journeyed from Syria to Austria in 2014. ## Tools, Tech & Products - **Diablo, Fable, Gothic, GTA, The Witcher:** Examples of past played blockbuster/RPG games. - **Google:** Used for initial research attempts. - **ChatGPT:** Mentioned in the closing advice as an example of information source needing deeper research. ## References Cited - None explicitly cited outside of the games themselves being cultural touchstones. ## Trade-offs & Alternatives - **Blockbuster Games vs. Indie Games:** Blockbusters offer polish but share similar genres; indie games offer unique innovation, mechanics, and strong cultural representation. - **Movie/Book vs. Video Game:** Video games offer the advantage of agency; the user *is* the person experiencing the story, unlike being a passive observer in a film. ## Counterarguments & Caveats - Finding games developed in conflict-ridden or politically sensitive regions (like Pakistan, Iraq, Iran) is difficult, often overshadowed by negative headlines. - A significant portion of recommended, culturally rich games could not be found or played currently, highlighting preservation issues. ## Methodology - **Research Method:** Challenging oneself to systematically research and play games originating from every country. - **Data Gathering:** Reaching out directly to international game developer communities (e.g., in Austria) for firsthand accounts of development history. - **Analytical Focus:** Analyzing games not for AAA polish, but for their ability to convey culture, emotion, or challenge complex decision-making. ## Conclusions & Recommendations - To find new inspiration, one must deliberately step outside of established comfort zones, whether in life, travel, or gaming. - Always research the source: Look "who were the people behind it" and "Why were those things being developed or written or created?" - For research, do not rely solely on superficial search results (Google or ChatGPT); the most interesting data comes from talking to people. ## Implications & Consequences - The way games are treated as art needs to change; they must be archived and preserved alongside books and visual art in museums. - Video games possess a high potential for designing educational and therapeutic tools by replicating experiential learning and forcing empathetic decisions. ## Verbatim Moments - *"I think we all know this moment when we are stuck, when we're stuck, at some point when we are looking for new inspiration, for new motivation."* - *"I find that learning comes from pushing ourselves out of our comfort zone and trying to learn something new by failing, by fighting maybe things we are scared to do."* - *"What if I travel through video games?"* - *"If you think for yourself, if I would ask you the question, if I want to play one game which was developed in the country you live or you come from, which game should I play? Do you know this from your countries?"* - *"We know a lot about about the books. We know where the authors are coming from, who are the authors? We know often about the directors in movies, but sometimes we know a little about the games."* - *"For instance, you see me playing the game from Peru in Peru at Machu Picchu."* - *"This is a super power of video games. This game mechanic that you are forced to make decisions yourself, which again makes you learn and makes you think."* - *"I just want to encourage, encourage you. Like I said in the beginning, no matter what you're doing, just step outside of your comfort zone."* - *"Talk to the people. This is where the most interesting experiences come from."*