Avatars and Governmentality

Chapter 4 turns to the long-running discussion about the way that the player is embodied in the game world. In some ways this simply builds on the lever/watchtower distinction of the previous chapter, since lever-based games like Uncharted tend to have embodied avatars, and more system-based games tend toward disembodied player positions, as is the case in most civilization simulations like Frostpunk. But the dynamic is more complex than this, as we can see in a game like Wolfenstein–where the player must be aware of watchtowers while navigating the space as an embodied player. More generally, this chapter will address the broader topic of governmentality, a concept that it draws from Michel Foucault, and applies here to indirect player actions. In a game like Frostpunk, for example, the player establishes general policies for the society, which only have indirect effects. This dynamic, between direct effects and broader policy, helps to illuminate a wide variety of games. Of particular interest in this chapter is the game Exocolonist, which strikes a fascinating balance between embodiment in the game world, the construction of a player career, and civilization-defining “governmental” policies that impact the eventual shape of the game state.