Pals, this might be a long one. I got a bit excited, and by that I mean I wrote a >2000 word essay. In fact, substack is telling me off for writing too much, as some of your email programs might not show the whole thing, but who am I to deny you all pretty pretty pictures? If it does get cut off, you can still read the full thing on the substack website, so let’s dive right in to it!
I had this exact experience playing the Root RPG recently. The artwork led me to expect a chill game about woodland critters protecting their humble forest. What I got was an exploration of the effects of poverty, colonialism, and religious extremism.
Re: cozy YOU ARE RIGHT AND YOU SHOULD SAY IT. Side note: I've been talking lately about what "wholesome" or "cozy" video games have in common because of the Wholesome Games Direct and have come to the conclusion that it just means "video games primarily marketed to women."
Melancozy: I love it. Its time has come. Yes, please make a jam!
Some combination of these emojis 🥰+😢+🙀 = melancozy
I had this exact experience playing the Root RPG recently. The artwork led me to expect a chill game about woodland critters protecting their humble forest. What I got was an exploration of the effects of poverty, colonialism, and religious extremism.
Not cozy at all.
Great read. I have seen fragments of the cozy horror discussion and been completely perplexed by it, so thanks for mapping that out! 😁
Re: cozy YOU ARE RIGHT AND YOU SHOULD SAY IT. Side note: I've been talking lately about what "wholesome" or "cozy" video games have in common because of the Wholesome Games Direct and have come to the conclusion that it just means "video games primarily marketed to women."