Breaking The Game

 This episode examines, through the lens of Aristotelian virtue ethics, how roguelike video games, such as Cogmind, can foster personal development and self-understanding through training our ethical and intellectual virtues. Roguelikes provide more than entertainment; they offer a space to practice virtue, teaching resilience, adaptability, and growth through the careful deployment and interaction of game mechanics. Drawing on Aristotle’s teachings on virtue, this analysis suggests that engaging with roguelikes helps cultivate a virtuous character and imparts valuable life lessons, revealing how gaming can serve as a pathway to self-improvement and deeper self-awareness.

Watch the video version on YouTube here.

Credits
Written and presented by James Cartlidge
Produced by Greta Rauleac
Original music by James Cartlidge

Breaking the Game is a YouTube channel and podcast series about philosophy and video game studies. It aims to facilitate discussions about games, the games industry and philosophy with wider audiences. It mainly (though not exclusively) focusses on the indie games sphere, and current and future philosophical topics include phenomenology, existentialism, political philosophy, ethics, philosophy of mind/consciousness, cognitive science, psychoanalysis and psychology. It is based on the postdoctoral research of James Cartlidge.

Check out and subscribe to Breaking the Game here.

This episode examines the classic psychological horror game Silent Hill 2 through the framework of psychoanalysis, investigating how the game represents the unconscious, dream symbolism, horror, and the processing of trauma. Silent Hill 2 is celebrated for its sophisticated portrayal of human psychology, particularly its engagement with a Freudian psychoanalytic theory. In this video, I argue that the game functions as a dramatization of Freud’s theory of dreams as wish-fulfilment, and the notion of the "punishment dream" in particular. Through the game’s intricate portrayal of the psychological torment of protagonist James Sunderland, it explores Freudian ideas about repressed memories. The symbolic environment of Silent Hill reflects deeper, unresolved conflicts in the form of dream images. This analysis reveals Silent Hill 2 as a profound exploration of psychological horror and the complexities of the human mind.

Watch the video version on YouTube here.

Credits

Written and presented by James Cartlidge
Produced by Greta Rauleac
Original music by James Cartlidge

Breaking the Game is a YouTube channel and podcast series about philosophy and video game studies. It aims to facilitate discussions about games, the games industry and philosophy with wider audiences. It mainly (though not exclusively) focusses on the indie games sphere, and current and future philosophical topics include phenomenology, existentialism, political philosophy, ethics, philosophy of mind/consciousness, cognitive science, psychoanalysis and psychology. It is based on the postdoctoral research of James Cartlidge.

Check out and subscribe to Breaking the Game here.

Named for their similarity to the 1980 video game Rogue, ‘roguelikes’ have one of gaming’s richest, most interesting histories, represent one of gaming’s most enduringly popular genres, and one of its most enduringly influential in terms of game design. The roguelike’s history stretches back to the earliest days of video gaming but also continues to affect a tangible influence on modern gaming in the form of ‘roguelite’ games, which are directly inspired by roguelikes.

This episode investigates the history of the roguelike genre and how this history is told, concentrating on three particularly illuminative aspects of the discourse surrounding it which I will discuss under the headings of complexity, controversy, and creativity. The history of the roguelike genre is the history of a type of game designed around a particular set of gaming preferences which favour high complexity, high difficulty, deep strategy, and a punishing learning curve, and prioritize gameplay at the expense of aesthetics. But so complicated are roguelikes that their history cannot be told without mentioning the markedly intense, detailed, fractious, 40-year long debate which has raged in the fan community over the meaning of its own genre label. Out of this debate, a set of design principles and game mechanics emerged as definitive of older, traditional roguelikes such that the history of roguelikes is one of a prolific, diverse hotbed of creativity deliberately constrained by a certain design philosophy.

The most recent chapter in this history are ‘roguelites’, which take direct inspiration from roguelikes but take a freer, less constrained and more modernized approach to their creativity with roguelike mechanics. Roguelites creatively remix the mechanics associated with traditional roguelikes, blending them with other genres, and implementing modernized graphics and design techniques.

This episode is based on a talk presented at a game studies conference at the University of Innsbruck in 2024, presented with the same title.  KONF: Spielgeschichte(n) - Games und Game Studies in medienkulturgeschichtlicher Perspektive, Innsbruck (11.04.-13.04.2024)

Watch the video version on YouTube here.

Credits

Written and presented by James Cartlidge
Produced by Greta Rauleac
Original music by James Cartlidge

Breaking the Game is a YouTube channel and podcast series about philosophy and video game studies. It aims to facilitate discussions about games, the games industry and philosophy with wider audiences. It mainly (though not exclusively) focusses on the indie games sphere, and current and future philosophical topics include phenomenology, existentialism, political philosophy, ethics, philosophy of mind/consciousness, cognitive science, psychoanalysis and psychology. It is based on the postdoctoral research of James Cartlidge.

Check out and subscribe to Breaking the Game here.

This episode explores the philosophical relevance of video games, examining why games matter and what they reveal about the human condition. At the core of this inquiry is the question of what it means to be human and how we cope with life’s existential tensions. Playing games, engaging in sport, and immersing ourselves in stories are all ways in which we seek meaning and enjoyment in life. Video games, in particular, combine play and narrative, providing a uniquely engaging aesthetic space to explore identity, existence, and purpose.

Watch the video version on YouTube here.

Credits

Written and presented by James Cartlidge
Produced by Greta Rauleac
Original Music by James Cartlidge

Breaking the Game is a YouTube channel and podcast series about philosophy and video game studies. It aims to facilitate discussions about games, the games industry and philosophy with wider audiences. It mainly (though not exclusively) focusses on the indie games sphere, and current and future philosophical topics include phenomenology, existentialism, political philosophy, ethics, philosophy of mind/consciousness, cognitive science, psychoanalysis and psychology. It is based on the postdoctoral research of James Cartlidge.

Check out and subscribe to Breaking the Game here.

This episode continues our exploration of Wittgenstein’s philosophy, moving on to his famous remarks on games in his Philosophical Investigations, which have become one of the most famous pieces of philosophical writing in video game studies.  

Watch the video version on YouTube here.

Credits

Written and presented by James Cartlidge
Produced by Greta Rauleac
Original Music by James Cartlidge

Breaking the Game is a YouTube channel and podcast series about philosophy and video game studies. It aims to facilitate discussions about games, the games industry and philosophy with wider audiences. It mainly (though not exclusively) focusses on the indie games sphere, and current and future philosophical topics include phenomenology, existentialism, political philosophy, ethics, philosophy of mind/consciousness, cognitive science, psychoanalysis and psychology. It is based on the postdoctoral research of James Cartlidge.

Check out and subscribe to Breaking the Game here.

Wittgenstein famously wrote about games in a book called Philosophical Investigations, one of the most important philosophical works of the 20th century. To contextualize his thoughts, Part 1 of this series provides an introduction to Wittgenstein’s life and philosophy. Part two will discuss the most famous passages from the Philosophical Investigations where he discusses games. These passages form part of a much wider critique of the philosophy of language and meaning. A future third episode will examine subsequent philosophical criticism of Wittgenstein’s remarks on games from the point of view of games and sport.

Watch the video version on YouTube here.

Credits

Written and presented by James Cartlidge
Produced by Greta Rauleac
Original Music by James Cartlidge

Breaking the Game is a YouTube channel and podcast series about philosophy and video game studies. It aims to facilitate discussions about games, the games industry and philosophy with wider audiences. It mainly (though not exclusively) focusses on the indie games sphere, and current and future philosophical topics include phenomenology, existentialism, political philosophy, ethics, philosophy of mind/consciousness, cognitive science, psychoanalysis and psychology. It is based on the postdoctoral research of James Cartlidge.

Check out and subscribe to Breaking the Game here.