Blog of Abstracts

Dr. Mario Donick has studied German language & literature and history at the University of Rostock. He has a PhD in Communication Studies. He works as independent author and researcher. Books and articles on human computer interaction & society, and digital games.

Apocalypse in “The Old Neighborhood”: Phantasies of longtermism Starfield and other space-themed digital games

FROG 2024 – Talk

In her work “Vita Activa” (1958, German 1967) Hannah Arendt pointed out that Earth is the only place in space that is suitable for sustaining human life without further ado (Arendt 2019, 9). She wrote this after the “Sputnik shock” in 1957, when the first human-made satellite was launched into Earth orbit. Arendt also pointed out that attempts by the sciences to “improve” human beings beyond their natural abilities and characteristics (ibid.) correspond to a “Rebellion des Menschen gegen sein eigenes Dasein” (ibid., 10; “rebellion of man against his own existence”).

Almost 70 years later, private space companies such as SpaceX, Blue Origin or Boeing are trying to realize the “dream of space”; biotechnology companies such as Neuralink are striving to develop digital augmentations to enhance human performance. However, the work of SpaceX and Neuralink in particular does not serve science or even just economic purposes, but is tied to an ideology known as “longtermism”. In short, it is about ensuring the longterm survival of humanity, which is always under the danger of existential risks, such as a nuclear war, the climate catastrophe or a (“strong”) AI. Longtermists give a higher priority to the well-being of future human beings, than the currently living ones. Elon Musk follows longtermist views; his activities with SpaceX are ultimately aimed to spread humanity to other planets in order to be protected in the event that life on Earth is no longer possible. Similarily, Neuralink is meant to level the playing field when humanity must deal with a superintelligent AI.

Digital games frequently depict the aforementioned topics. In the contribution proposed here, we will focus on space travel and how a society who survived the end of Earth is shown in Starfield (2023, Bethesda Softworks). In Starfield, Earth has lost its magnetosphere and has become an uninhabitable desert; billions have died in this apocalypse. The few survivors have spread out into space and live in societies that can be classified somewhere between superficially friendly proto-fascism and libertarian Wild West anarchy.

The thesis of the proposed talk is that Starfield and other space themed games are promoting a libertarian longtermist’s dream world, which does fit more the space fantasies of the 20th century than today’s real challenges (such as the climate catastrophe). Although these games may still provoke thinking about existential questions on a personal level, in general they do not realize the potential of science fiction which is to ask and discuss relevant questions for today.

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Tijana Rupcic, PhD Candidate, Central European University, Department of History, Austria After finishing a BA in History at the University of Belgrade, Serbia (2011), I’ve completed my MA in Ancient Greek and Roman History and Philosophy at the University of Novi Sad, Serbia (2014) and MA in Comparative History at Central European University, Budapest, Hungary (2020) focusing on the History of Technology and Science and History of Yugoslavia. During my MA studies, I’ve completed the specialization in Archives and Evidentiary Practices at OSA Vera and Donald Blinken Archives, Budapest. I hold an Advanced Certificate in Religious and Jewish Studies. I’ve worked as an archivist in the Historical Archives in Kikinda, Serbia (2012-2019), focusing on preserving damaged documents and creating analytical registries. Currently, I am a doctoral candidate at Central European University in Vienna, Austria. My current research interests are history of technology and science, transhumanism, videogames, relationship between technology and religion.

The Great Unraveling: Exploring the idea of environmental collapse and technology in dystopian video games

FROG 2024 – Talk

Video games, formerly a specialized area of the online community, are now a significant industry, surpassing in revenue even the movie and music industries. The fears of catastrophes tied to global warming, change in Earth’s climate, dangerous technologies, and hyper-capitalist landscapes have already found their way into video games. Video games can stretch our imagination, make us confront unresolved problems, and pose new queries, calling for a new ecological utopia.

This talk aims to explore in which ways are the ideas and imaginaries of catastrophic scenarios of mass extinction and disappearance of resources explored in video game media. Post-apocalyptic games are the most popular form of exploring the idea of extinction and catastrophe in dystopian video games. Post-apocalyptic video games use one of four main fictional periods—during the apocalypse, a few years after the catastrophe, centuries after the event (which is the most popular), or an exceptionally far-off period when our civilization has long since vanished—to guide players toward the end of civilization. Nuclear catastrophes, pandemics, robots and artificial intelligence, asteroids, extraterrestrial invasions, and any type of natural calamity are among the factors that will ultimately destroy humanity. Most of these video games have become ingrained in popular culture due to their success.

In the talk, the author relies on a game-immanent approach to study the narrative of Death Stranding (Kojima Productions, 2019), in which the environmental collapse and war for resources are center of the plot. This video game is spawning a new genre that Ruffino labels as “Post-Anthropocene video games: video games that challenge the centrality of mankind, making it increasingly less essential, forcing players to think of their responsibility and impact on the environment.”

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Alexander Hurezeanu is a PhD Candidate at Toronto Metropolitan University in the Communication and Culture Graduate Program and a faculty member in the Centre for Preparatory and Liberal Studies at Toronto’s George Brown College. His research examines cultural production and representation in video games. Alex is particularly interested in how gameplay experiences produce new opportunities for transcultural communication in Eastern and Western cultural contexts.

Hope after the Bombs: Exploring Transcultural Imaginaries through Classic Fallout Mods from the former Eastern Bloc

FROG 2024 – Talk

The concept of apocalypse is a difficult and often misconstrued one. For future studies scholar W. Warren Wagar, the origins of the eschatological imaginings of apocalypse lie in the religious-historical tradition of prophetic vision and the desire for prophecy, suggesting that apocalypse should be as much about revelation as it should be about visions of a devastated future. As the study of utopia is often associated with visions, dreams, or desires of a better time and place, the study of modern eschatology similarly favours visions that foretell a better tomorrow rather than doom and damn the future. To what extent then, are games about the apocalypse useful to the concept of utopia? How can games about the apocalypse encourage unique cultural contexts through which we may envision novel utopian forms? This paper presentation explores the classic post nuclear role-playing games, Fallout 1 and 2, as unique transcultural experiences from the perspectives of players, designers, and modders from former Eastern Bloc countries. Utilizing Mikhail Epstein’s and Ellen E. Berry’s transcultural interference framework, I argue that Interplay’s Fallout games emphasize “an open system of symbolic alternatives to existing cultures and their established sign systems” (Epstein & Berry 24) as demonstrated by classic Fallout mods, such as Fallout: Nevada, Fallout: Resurrection, Fallout: Sonora, and Olympus 2207. Each of these mods, produced by developers from the former Eastern Bloc, are exemplary transcultural negotiations that seek to transcend Fallout’s predominantly apocalyptic American cultural forms in order to produce utopic transcultural imaginaries.

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Fiona S. Schönberg is a queer novelist, narrative designer, TV writer and researcher from Germany.
She holds an MA in Media Dramaturgy as well as a BA in Film Studies and English Literature and Culture from Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, and is currently working on her PhD in Media Studies.
She is an Associate Researcher at Regensburg University’s Digital Area Studies Lab, and her research focuses on immersion in narrative games as well as the narrative and political potentials of game rules.

Man, Man Never Changes – The Limitations of Post-Apocalyptic Fiction in the Fallout Franchise and Beyond

FROG 2024 – Talk

From its inception, the Fallout Franchise has featured a number of narrative elements that can easily be read as downright anti-capitalist. Between the omnipresent themes of automation replacing labour in Fallout 67 and the implications of revelations from the Amazon Prime TV-show, it seems safe to argue that the franchise has fully embraced this line of political expression. Yet, in spite of these fairly overt leanings, the underlying logic of the setting and the underlying procedural rhetoric of the gameplay tell a different story.

Based on Mark Fisher’s Capitalist Realism and in an update to a previously published article, this presentation uses the Fallout franchise as a springboard to argue that the post-apocalyptic genre, in particular in games, has a deep seated neoliberal slant, one that permeates the assumptions and decisions underlying much of the worldbuilding as well as the game design, and that even the best of narrative intentions are bound to chafe against.

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Laurentius Alvin (he/him, 30 y/o) graduated 2021 from the University of Bonn with a Masters in European and Asian art history. His interests between fine art and video games expands to include postcolonial perspectives. Before starting his volontary work in the State Arts Collection of Dresden he wrote a couple of game studies texts pertaining to games in and around his birth country, Indonesia.

The restaurant at the end of the world: food in postapocalyptic games

FROG 2024 – Talk

Despite being a substantial part of a broad genre of games, food items – both as ingredients and/or in its cooked forms – remained a rather sidestepped theme in game studies, with Agata Waszkiewiczs’ book being one of the few basic repertoire on the theme. However, the book’s focus on coziness means that postapocalyptic games – more often connected to conflict than cozy – remained unstudied. In this CfA I’ll attempt to look into how games with postapocalyptic settings shows multiple food cultures and foodways, whilst parallely asking our real life connection to food and consumption.

The post in postapocalypse is roughly comparable with postcolonial and postsocialism – it denotes a before and after, a point of (unwanted) changes and parallelly attempts of continuity. Whilst cooking practices were continued, they were affected by change in environment and also its past (Fallout series). Some of these settings could also change out relationship towards meat, especially those of the mutated human kind (S.T.A.L.K.E.R. G.A.M.M.A.). Some others asked us what foods and foodways do we keep from and how do we – the universalized humans – remember our past, and how do we react with new ‘foods’ from the universe especially when earth as we know it is no longer there (Starfield). Lastly, as a nod back to Waszkiewicz, I’ll be arguing if food in the end can also be cozy – and what it takes to create this coziness. These are the select questions I’ll be serving this time in the restaurant at the end of the world: food in postapocalyptic games.

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Mary-Ellen is an eccentric and enthusiastic teacher with extensive experience teaching in elementary schools across Texas and Australia, she is a speaker with a passion for creativity and education.

Recently, Mary-Ellen has fused her love of music and experience in education with her passion for games to create a suite of games that support the development of musical skills by augmenting the Elementary School Music experience into the digital space.

When she isn’t teaching or developing games, Mary-Ellen loves spending time with her family exploring the world.

The Power of Unhappy Endings

FROG 2024 – Talk

In the Power of Unhappy Endings, Mary-Ellen Fimbel presents her revolutionary game that bridges the power of a compelling narrative and traditional elementary music concepts to bring to life the meaningful story of a small creature who becomes the sole survivor of an apocalyptic event.

Bonnie’s tragic tale, and companion game, showcase resilience and hope in a way that is approachable for a young audience while providing teachers with an opportunity to encourage active empathy and engagement in musical concepts. In addition to sharing the inspiration behind the story, Mary-Ellen will share the experience of playtesting with children and how the story and reception of the game’s prototype have transformed into the first game of her Music Room Friends learning suite.

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Julia Tyll-Schranz is a historian based at the “Verein für Geschichte der ArbeiterInnenbewegung” (Association for the history of the worker’s movement). Her research has focused on worker’s and migration history, as well as oral history and memory cultures. She is currently pursuing a PhD at the University of Vienna, where she also conducted academic research and teaching at the Chair for Transregional Historical Studies from 2020 to 2024. From 2012 to 2020, she worked as a guide and researcher for the Red Vienna exhibition at Karl-Marx-Hof. Julia Tyll-Schranz holds degrees in Development Studies and History.

Mateusz Gorecki has over two decades of experience in game development, beginning in the late 1990s with a self-taught passion for the craft. Throughout his career, he has contributed to the successful launch of more than 30 game titles across various platforms. In 2006, he co-founded the Austrian game studio Rarebyte, where he serves as game director, guiding the creative and artistic vision of numerous projects. Beyond his role at Rarebyte, Mateusz is an ambassador for the Pioneers of Game Development Austria (PGDA), helping to foster collaboration and growth within the Austrian game development community.

Martin Greunz is a project manager for digitization at the Vienna Chamber of Labour. He is particularly interested in game-based learning and is passionate about developing creative products. He is committed to shaping the digital future without jeopardizing fundamental rights such as the protection of personal data. He holds degrees in law and business administration.

Manchester 4.0

FROG 2024 – Talk

We will introduce a mobile game that is currently being developed by Studio Rarebyte on behalf of the Vienna Chamber of Labour (AK Wien). It is a collaborative multiplayer game that deals with the exploitation of the working class. One of the most striking examples was Manchester Capitalism in the 19th century. Child labour, inhumane working conditions, endless working hours, starvation wages and a lack of social benefits characterized this period. But we know that precarious and inhumane conditions still exist worldwide. The current situation in textile factories in many countries around the world is reminiscent of the darkest chapters in the history of workers. Is humanity not making any progress in this regard? Do the promises of technology also benefit workers or are we stepping back in time?

The game starts in a society of workers that can be set during the Industrial Revolution or in a dystopian future. The players try to create better working and living conditions for society. In doing so, they encounter enormous resistance that they have to overcome together. The gameplay is a great challenge and offers new opportunities for interaction and collaboration. Because if collective interests are neglected, a social apocalypse threatens. It will be released as a mobile game in the first quarter of 2025.

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Christoph Kaindel was one of the founders of Ariochs Erben, the first Live Action Roleplay association in Austria, in 1989. He has embodied zombies in many LARPs and in various situations, including rising from a shallow grave. Christoph was employed as action coordinator in several theatrical productions and as zombie movement coach for a few movie projects in schools. In 2010 he wrote and co-directed (with Gen Seto) the mockumentary short „Zombieversum“. He works as a media educator for the Wiener Bildungsserver.

Zombie is just a state of mind

FROG 2024 – Talk

When the Zombie Apocalypse arrives, it will be of vital importance to move unrecognized among the Walking Dead. In this short hands-on workshop you will acquire all the necessary skills to survive in an undead-infested environment. We will focus on mimicking the classic slow zombie, or “Romero zombie”, as the most common variant. After getting into the zombie mindset, or lack thereof, we will practice zombie facial expressions (aka RZF), zombie posture, the zombie shuffle and the zombie groan. Finally we will combine all this and move together mindlessly as a zombie horde, driven only by unquenchable hunger.

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I studied Philosophy and Political Science, work as an educator, trainer and project developer in the field of political education, peace education, life skill education and global citzienship education. I am the Chief Creative Director and author of the World Climate Game.

How to win the world climate game

FROG 2024 – Talk

In my talk I will present the educational App-Simulation-Roleplay-Boardgame “Weltklimaspiel”, designed to play over at least three days with a large Group (25 to 50 people). It is developed to raise awareness of the causes of the global climate crisis and to empower the participants to be an active part of the solution. I will talk about the gamedesign, the methodology and the results of the ongoing scientific evaluation.

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Kseniia is a doctoral candidate at the University of Klagenfurt, Austria. Her dissertation project focuses on developing a virtual reality game aimed at enhancing empathy in the context of forced migration experiences. Kseniia received her Master’s degree in Game Studies and Engineering from the University of Klagenfurt and a Bachelor’s degree in Software Engineering from the National Technical University of Ukraine. Kseniia is also involved in community organizing and promotes diversity in games. Last year she started the “Games Intersectional” local community for marginalized people in the video games industry and academia.

Unraveling the Romanticization of Colonial, Imperial and Authoritarian Narratives in Modern Video Games

FROG 2024 – Talk

In the current landscape of video games, the portrayal of historical and political themes has become increasingly influential. This paper explores the subtle ways in which popular games, such as “The Battle of Polytopia,” “Root,” “Lil’ Guardsman,” and “Stray” normalize and, in some cases, romanticize the narratives of colonialism, imperialism, and authoritarianism. These games offer a unique lens to examine how contemporary digital media recreates and reinterprets historical power dynamics.

“The Battle of Polytopia” presents a simplified, mobile strategy experience where players expand their empires through conquest and development, cloaked in minimalist aesthetics. This juxtaposition of ‘cute’ graphics with themes of domination and expansion raises questions about the trivialization of colonial undertones. “Root,” a board game with a digital adaptation, uses anthropomorphic woodland creatures to allegorically represent various forms of governance and resistance. The game’s portrayal of territorial control and factional conflict offers rich ground for analyzing metaphorical representations of imperialism. “Lil’ Guardsman” contributes to these themes by simulating the authoritarian border control mechanics of “Papers, Please” within a fantasy cartoon world. Finally, “Stray” offers a post-apocalyptic perspective of an adventure game where players control a cute stray cat navigating a decaying city inhabited by robots, exploring themes of survival and societal collapse.

Utilizing an interdisciplinary approach, this paper employs theories from cultural studies and game studies to dissect game mechanics, narrative elements, and aesthetic choices. The aim is to uncover how these games reflect, distort, or confront historical narratives of colonization and empire-building.

This research contributes to the broader conversation about the role of video games as media of ideology, particularly in how they shape our perceptions of historical and contemporary socio-political issues. It underscores the need for critical engagement with video games as they increasingly become a part of our cultural and educational fabric, influencing views on history, politics, and identity.

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