Rhythms of playful survival : a phenomenological reading of the videogames They are billions and Don't starve

Over the past few decades, scholars of videogames have increasingly turned to phenomenological theories to explicate the situated, material qualities of videogame play. In this thesis, I aim to reflect on my experiences playing the survival games They Are Billions and Don’t Starve, paying close attention to the phenomenological qualities of these encounters and how I bodily adapted to the challenges each game offered. I first outline the existential phenomenology of Maurice Merleau-Ponty, followed by an introduction to Vivian Sobchak’s phenomenology of cinema and Don Ihde’s phenomenology of technology. I then explore the ways in which videogame scholars have applied these theories in their own work, noting how the focus has shifted from avatarial control and mastery to the player’s physical real-world body as it interfaces with the game, the game hardware, and input devices, as well as the importance of diversity and representation within gaming spaces. These insights served as a lens through which I interpreted my time playing They Are Billions and Don’t Starve. Whereas They Are Billions allows players to view the world from afar and requires an intuitive knowledge of how far to explore, Don’t Starve limits the player’s access to the world to the perspective of an avatar, and the avatar’s survival needs drive the player forward. Both games possess flexibility in terms of how difficult a game world players wish to generate, as well as the ability to be modded by tech-savvy players. An issue that remains however is that the cast of characters available in Don’t Starve adhere to the default white and male bodies found in mainstream videogames and who continue to be considered as the normative audience of games.