Made out of Meat: Human Corporeality in Games
summary
Argues that representing bodies matters and lays out four concrete approaches: abstraction (traditional HP and status effects), simplification (Ivan‑style seven locational pools that let limbs be lost), simulation (Dwarf Fortress‑level organs, pain, bleeding and blood‑loss death), and narration (longer social and emotional consequences). Gives Catacomb Kids as a prototype that adds chance‑based limb loss to a roguelike, notes healing is usually instant via potions rather than time, and urges systems for lasting impairment, adaptation, and age/diversity in games.
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chapters (13)
- 0:00Games in minds and bodies
- 1:05Introduction
- 2:32Human physicality in games
- 5:52Fragility and resilience of bodies
- 9:51Representing health in games
- 13:43Locational damage in Ivan the Unready
- 15:48Simplification in game design
- 17:13Simulation in Dwarf Fortress
- 20:02Injuries: narration and emotion
- 21:29Healing and recovery in games
- 24:42Scars and permanent change
- 25:43People are more than meat
- 27:11Conclusion
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