game elements that surround the message, support the message
- players mentioned simple enjoyment in games.
- tautologically, a player is more likely to engage with an engaging game. Seems reasonable to believe that engagement would extend to engagement with the message.
- heck, there are probably many games that have awesome messages, but were put down because they were simply boring.
- Background details, atmosphere, and lore can all contribute to this enjoyment
- the abstract aesthetics contribute as well, e.g. the difficulty of Dark Souls makes people reflect on perseverance
- Players both noticed (and seemed proud of noticing) when game mechanics meshed with more abstract themes.
- 4th wall breaking is a good tool too.
subversion is a powerful tool, but you have to have a deep understanding of basic game development in order to employ subversion properly.
