intellectual power fantasy
Most of this comes from a conversation I had with Brandon Sichling
The intellectual power fantasy refers to actions that are intellectually impossible to take in the real world. Just as we can’t lift a car in real life, we can’t fully explore different ways of living and how they’d pan out if we were to fully commit to them.
Furthermore, games support the intellectual power fantasy of being undeniably correct. We often aren’t aware of the ramifications of our actions until years later (if at all), however we can see consequences in many games within hours or even minutes of playtime. In the most extreme cases, games include what is colloquially known as a “good ending”, an alternative conclusion to the game that can only be viewed if the player takes the morally and intellectually correct choices in response to the dilemmas the game presents. These good endings serve as proof that the player’s actions were undeniably correct according to the game world.
Despite the fact that games can support the intellectual power fantasy via good endings, it is not the case that they should. Sicart argues that a successful game challenges the player.
