i've been mostly radio silent for the past few weeks, but something got under my skin. so i'm going to thread about it a bit and then disappear back into my hole.

this whole "cozy games" discourse.

there's a particular flavor in leftist thought that derides "escapist fantasy" as a way of wasting one's time. by not spending that time and energy fighting the system, you are duped into acting against your own interests. so they say.

when i read some of the takes swirling around against "cozy/wholesome" games, that's what i'm seeing. "you don't *really* like animal crossing, you just want to see the fruits of your labor."

that's condescending, and it pisses me off.

first, it assumes we workers don't understand that's exactly why we like those games. surely someone has to come tell us.

second, it fails to see that why we retreat into them is to REST. because we're TIRED. because engaging with the problem constantly makes one lose hope.

capitalism has warped the way people experience desire to see their labor valued, but it didn't instill that desire. it is human to want to feel your labor has a purpose to the world around you, to want to work to build something. workers constantly have that taken from us.

so, sometimes what rest looks like is working very hard to build something that is yours and belongs to you. we understand that about art, but when done in games it gets called a trick. not only is that condescending, it's ableist at its core.

judging someone's ethical values, or value, by what tasks they are and are not able to perform, by what they find harder or less hard, by what they require in order to rest, is ableist.

the idea that escapism is counterrevolutionary is ableist, and it's wrong.

the idea that people *should* wring every bit of productivity out of their lives is ableist, and wrong, whether that be for capitalist ends or revolutionary ones. someone else deciding a worker, already tired, is wasting their leisure by engaging fantasy? that's fucked up.

it is an essentially capitalistic idea adopted for leftist use. and i find it surprising to see from people involved in game design, since having been surrounded by that ideology is precisely the reason i have so much internalized shame about my interest in games.

i have critiques about games like stardew valley and animal crossing. they often fail to interrogate their own capitalistic and colonialistic elements underpinning the games' mechanics. they often work against their own stated goals. there are definite issues with these games.

what i don't appreciate is being told i'm being duped into spending my energy on farming in a game rather than using that energy for direct action, or that i only like the busywork bc i'm trained to.

escapism is medicine. i don't HAVE that energy for anything else.

if someone gets "too deep" into escapism, that's a clear indicator they are psychologically fatigued. they may not be able to change the things in their lives that cause that fatigue. they may not be able to do more than work and play a game. they may not even be able to work.

i'm absolutely not interested in starting a debate with this thread. i want only for it to be considered.

exploited workers and the disabled shouldn't have to feel judged for spending their limited free time in a fantasy where their work is valued. i'll die on that hill.

before someone twists my words: i'm not saying these games are resistance. they can bring rest and inspiration, and provide a space to imagine what a better life may be like so that those whose realities are difficult can retreat from that constant onslaught. and that's ok.

nor am i saying people need to like these games. some folks will bounce hard off the achievement-based mechanics. the mistake is believing you hold a moral high ground by not playing them, or that a person feeling satisfied by them is purely a result of capitalist conditioning.

again, as i said, i'm not here for debate. i'll mute the thread if you try to start one. i would rather my position be read and considered, and that if you disagree, you try to understand why i feel the way i do. (that's pretty much true for any post i make.) thanks for reading.