ABSTRACT
Media can make hostile environments such as outer space imaginatively accessible. Through video games players can feel transported and activated, entangled with game environments in ways that have the power to shape how audiences feel about environmental loss. Using Melody Jue’s method of milieu-specific analysis and Karen Barad’s agential realism, this chapter illustrates how the unfettered experience of exploring the nonlinear, mystery game Outer Wilds creates an opportunity for players to reflect on the dubious ethics of careless technological innovation. If we can empathize with a people’s grief at the loss of their worlds and, instead of succumbing to fear, collaborate to enact solutions, we can save our world—and each other.
