Discussing
Dying Light and the limitations of violence

For the most part, Dying Light challenges players to navigate a broken world with thoughtful deliberation rather than violence.

This is a beautiful reflection, Drew. Never in a million years would I have been able to thoughtfully play a zombie apocalypse game and find resonances of the self-destructive nature of direct violence. I wonder whether those who play a game like this, where the violent impulse is de-incentivized early on, carry that perspective back out into the world with them as they come face to face with similar frustrations. Is it possible that a game like this can train us to see the multiplier effect that direct violence has on the problems that instigate it? I can't help but think about all the stories of rioting I've heard this past year. If only we could perceive how the violence tends to compound rather than solve the problems at hand, maybe we'd more easily embrace the "better way" of suppressing the violent instinct.