Title (eng)
The Cute Shall Inherit the Earth: Animal Protagonists in Post-Human Game Worlds
Author
Description (eng)
Recent video game titles such as Stray (2022) and Another Crab’s Treasure (2024) feature animal protagonists navigating and improving built worlds in the decades following the extinction of humans. In each, the player embodies a cute, unlikely hero as they reckon with old-world technologies inherited from humans, face deadly foes, and seek to either reclaim a long-forgotten past or start anew.
Stray sees a cat, accompanied by an AI companion, ascend several architectural and societal layers of a near-lifeless city. Swarms of carnivorous zurks pursue the unnamed feline as it seeks respite among robotic communities. Another Crab’s Treasure follows a hermit crab, whose shell was stolen from its back, blaze a trail across a polluted ocean to reclaim his home. Throughout gameplay, the protagonist often returns to the city of New Carcinia to trade microplastics for goods.
Through intertextual analysis, I will discuss the commonality and contrast of Stray, Another Crab’s Treasure, and other media in their depictions of post-apocalyptic architecture, fallen economies, stratified societies, and environmental abuse. More specifically, the unique animal lens through which players engage with these themes will be investigated. In what ways may an animal player character facilitate either more or less human gameplay?
Keywords (eng)
Anthropocenepost-humanvideo game narrativetrash politics
Type (eng)
Language
[eng]
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Title
Gaming the Apocalypse
ISBN
978-3-903470-30-9
Publication
University of Krems Press
Publication
University of Krems Press
Date issued
2025-11-14
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