Controversial and Disturbing Video Games

Introduction

• Warning: Presentation contains imagery and subject matter some may find disturbing
• Educational program, viewer discretion is advised

Popularity of Video Games

• 65% of American adults and nearly all teenagers play video games
• Games are becoming more realistic, showing detailed violence
• 77% of parents believe media violence, including video games, contributes to America's culture of violence

Disturbing Experiences

• Audience suggested games left individuals unsettled or disturbed
• Introduction to the 'controversial and disturbing games iceberg'
• Levels of the iceberg: Surface layer (common knowledge) to deep layers (obscure and morbid)

Segments Covered

1. Catch-up on missed titles from previous video
2. Real Horror Layer: more personal and dark games
3. Bizarre and Trippy Layer: surreal and unexplainable experiences

List of Discussed Games

I'm Scared

• Lo-fi first-person horror game by Italian developer Ivan Zanati
• Meta horror, manipulates files on your computer
• Involves self-aware entity 'Whiteface'
• Install images and text files on your computer as part of the game
• Heavy ending where main character escapes or purges the entity

Inscryption

• Card-based roguelike and deck-building game
• Player as 'Luke Carter,' a streamer discovering a mysterious floppy disk
• Emotional ending sequence where the game's data is deleted
• Themes of preservation, memory, and digital mortality

Hello Charlotte

• RPG Maker game by Estonian artist Ethering
• Play as Charlotte Wiltshire in a house with aliens and androids
• Tackles heavy themes like mental illness, bullying, and growing up trans

Among the Sleep

• First-person horror adventure by Krillbite Studios
• Play as a two-year-old child accompanied by a teddy bear
• Explores themes of child abuse, messy parental relationships, and alcoholism

Death in Texas

• Visual novel simulation game
• You play as grim reaper, making life/death decisions for humans
• Dark humor and death positivity movement influence

Can Your Pet

• Shock flash game
• Initially looks like a pet care game, ends with graphic depiction of chicken processing
• Critique of factory farming ethics

Agony

• Kickstarter game with depiction of hell
• Faced controversy for female nudity and received an Adults Only rating initially
• Insanely graphic visuals and unsettling themes

That Dragon Cancer

• Game about the Greene family’s battle with child cancer
• Heavy emotional narrative with messages of hope and despair
• Reflects on struggle, belief, and acceptance of death

Shuiniao Interactive's Detention and Devotion

• Detention: Set during Taiwan's White Terror, explores historical and political horror
• Devotion: Critiques cult culture in Taiwan, controversial due to political sensitivities

Papers, Please

• Dystopian document inspection simulation game
• Themes of bureaucracy, morality, and oppression
• Players face moral and ethical dilemmas while trying to support their families

Spec Ops The Line

• Psychological shooter game
• Themes of PTSD, violence, accountability, and the horrors of war
• Memorable mission involving the use of white phosphorus

Hotline Miami

• Top-down action game with hyper-violence and moral questioning
• Constantly forces players to confront the consequences of their in-game actions
• Themes of dissociation and guilt

Twisted Metal Black

• Car combat game set in a grim asylum
• Themes of mental illness, trauma, and revenge fantasies

This War of Mine

• Reflects civilian struggles in wartime
• Choices impact the lives of vulnerable characters
• Themes of survival, ethics in dire situations, and human suffering

Dujanah

• Unique story about accepting death and grieving family loss
• Exploration of middle eastern conflict and personal grief

Rule of Rose

• Survival horror game involving abusive orphanage hierarchy
• Themes include childhood trauma, bullying, and tragic consequences

Summarized Realities in Games

1. Real Horror Layer: Real-world issues like war, abuse, mental health, disease
2. Bizarre and Trippy Layer: Games with surreal, psychedelic qualities

Conclusion

• Final thoughts on how games reflect disturbing and complex themes
• Comparison of various game narratives and their impact on players