https://door.donau-uni.ac.at/o:5809 The Slow Apocalypse: Cute Video Game Aesthetics as Ideological Tools in Normalizing Colonialism and Authoritarianism Harshina, Kseniia Kseniia Harshina University of Klagenfurt Tucek, Tom Tom Tucek 0009-0001-1277-1473 Universität für Weiterbildung Krems University of Krems Press text eng Colonialism has always functioned as a slow apocalypse, erasing cultures, lands, and communities. However, video games frequently present colonization and empire-building as strategic puzzles rather than destructive forces. This paper examines how "cutopian" games, which pair cute aesthetics with colonialist and authoritarian mechanics, trivialize power structures, making conquest, surveillance, and governance feel non-threatening. Through The Battle of Polytopia and Lil’ Guardsman, we analyze how visual design and gameplay mechanics depoliticize empire. Contrasting these games with decolonial alternatives, we highlight approaches that resist expansionist logic and highlight resistance and Indigenous storytelling instead. Drawing from animated media, we also examine how empire is often displaced into metaphor rather than dealt with as an ongoing material reality. Finally, we ask: Is it possible to decolonize cutopian games – to use their aesthetic softness to reveal, rather than obscure, the mechanics of oppression? Video Game Aesthetics Ideology Decolonization Decolonial Game Studies http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ https://door.donau-uni.ac.at/api/object/o:5809/download 10.48341/ccmd-a102 https://door.donau-uni.ac.at/o:5827 application/pdf 598.33 kB 2025-11-14