Are peaceful video games important?
In these modern times, it’s tough to stumble upon a game that doesn’t involve some type of aggression. Whether you’re dog fighting against enemy pilots, dealing with a serial killer, fighting off waves of ninjas (more like nonjas…), or slaying the undead – most games deal with a conflict of some sort that can only be decided through battle. It’s not exactly surprising; part of the reason we play video games is to do exactly what we can’t (or wouldn’t) in real life. Who doesn’t fantasize about using their super powers to save the day, or high-level military training to stop the bad guys? Personally, I start to look for variety very quickly. I find myself to be in the mood to play a game, but not necessarily in the mood to kill something. Enter games like Rock Band. Here, we have a game where we get to be a rock star! You’re not killing anything at all. No, no, “slaying the crowd” is just a saying (you big silly)! Also, there exists a plethora of puzzle games with which to curb our violent rage. There is something missing here – all we’ve got is one extreme and a neutral “gray” area. Where’s the other extreme in this mix?
Games that appeal to our peaceful urges often get ignored because of their lack of interesting content. Casual gamers usually get the most out of these games. In the absence of twitch gameplay, we’d explore a bit of our creativity. Some of the best examples are the following:
The Sims – in which you manage and plan out the lives of characters who each have different personality types and life goals. You advance by meeting these goals.
Harvest Moon – where you maintain a farm and sell your crops to advance.
Animal Crossing – where you advance by becoming an active part of a society of an ever-changing and personality driven cast.
My personal favorite peaceful game is Harvest Moon. There’s nothing better than planning out a farm layout, and then watching my crops grow into some serious dough! Plus, it’s a lot of fun raising chickens so I can sell their eggs. What drives you to play a peaceful video game? Share your favorites down below.
Boom Blox is probably one of the best non-violent video games out there. It sucks that it is only for the Wii though. You totally can get your wiitard on in this game. Puzzle game with destruction, very reminiscent of blast corps
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J Reply:
March 9th, 2010 at 10:36 pm
While definitely fun and kid-friendly. I’m not sure I’d call it peaceful. The core of the game is destroying stuff. It’s not violent but I wouldn’t call it peaceful.
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One of my favorites is Katmari Damacy, though possibly not totally non-violent since I attempt to roll up everything in existence to make the biggest Katamari ever. Still nothing gets hurt, instead perhaps trapped.
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Dan Reply:
March 8th, 2010 at 12:32 pm
and then blown up into a star….. but you’re right, there’s no direct violence.
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J Reply:
March 9th, 2010 at 10:37 pm
Well the objective isn’t directly the destruction of anything in particular. That’s just a side effect of your attempt to increase the size of your Katamari. On top of that the visual style makes it pretty non-violent.
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Flower for PSN. Ugh, soo good
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Rock Band in all of it’s incarnations is my favorite non violent game! Rock on!
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I’d say part of the reason why there are far more violent games than non-violent is that in general, life is relatively peaceful (for most).
I like Rock Band and early versions of Harvest Moon.
Puzzle games are peaceful. Tetris is fun. Dr. Mario is especially non-violent because all of those pills have to do something to help this poor pill guzzling patient.
A game like Portal is mostly peaceful. In fact I’d say although they may incorporate violence at some points the core elements of any pure platformer is non-violent. Mario may have you jumping on enemies but it’s just as fun when you’re jumping on moving platforms.
My favorite peaceful game just might be Wii Sports Resort. Sure maybe sword fighting and some other sections are a tad violent but for the most part it’s peaceful. Cutting objects faster than your opponent, exploring the island in a plane, playing frisbee with your adorable Mii dog, table tennis, even basketball.
For me though the amount of violence is almost never a factor when deciding on whether or not to play a game. I care far far more about the genre of the game.
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I have to say … SIMS can get agressive. My husband used to log into his sisters account and put pigs in the house and take out all of the exits and then set it on fire. – LMAO – the pigs would crap all over the house and the person would keep running up and down the stairs while the firemen stand outside cause they can’t get in. HAHAHAHHAHA exccellent.
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