Veganism and videogames

By Lucas Vially

During lockdown many have been turning to videogames for entertainment. In March, PETA released a ‘vegan guide’ to Animal Crossing: New Horizons, which advocated against in-game fishing, bug hunting and more. This view was seen by many as extreme, and a distraction from the real issues veganism seeks to address. People took to social media to share their annoyance, saying: “It’s just a game!”

But what if PETA was making a point? Do non-vegan actions in games matter?

The media influences our view of the world. Films, books and videogames can all play a part in normalising what is acceptable. When women repeatedly appear on screen as nothing but an object of desire, unequal gender roles are reinforced. When comedians use racist tropes to get cheap laughs, racism is normalised. Therefore, when the wholesome Animal Crossing encourages you to fish and depicts it as a fun and harmless activity, non-human animal exploitation anchors itself deeper into our culture.

Films, books and videogames can all play a part in normalising what is acceptable.

Yes, the fate of virtual animals doesn’t matter. But does their in-game exploitation have real-life consequences?

Vegan themes

Intentionally or not, every game says something.

You can’t really find any major videogame with an obvious vegan message, but the Oddworld saga gets quite close. In Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee, the hero’s species is about to be slaughtered for meat and it’s up to you to save the day. Being placed in the shoes of the threatened animal inspires empathy for those who are in the same position in our world. And even though the game is more about capitalism than speciesism, it’s easy to find testimonies of vegan players who think the game played an important role in their transition.

Not all games generate thinking in the same way, and not all of them do it intentionally. Take, for example, Pokémon.

The series has always been about catching wild creatures, training them and making them fight each other. In

Pokémon Black and White, the baddies are activists who claim that Pokémon should be freed from exploitation.

These antagonists use their activism as a front to gain power. For many players, the game was an opportunity to strengthen the notion that animal activists are preachy hypocrites. However, it also led to many conversations about the morality of their ideas.

Microchoices

The last two examples come from linear games in which the story is all set up, but other kinds of games afford more player expression: paths to choose from, lives to spare or take, help to accept or refuse and meals to find. As videogames evolve, their virtual worlds get more complex and offer a variety of microchoices. When a game offers the opportunity for a character to choose a vegan diet, walk instead of riding a horse or dress without leather, it can highlight the fact that this lifestyle is possible.

Some go further down that road: in the survival game Don’t Starve, killing animals and eating meat decrease the character’s sanity score and increase the naughtiness statistic. Interestingly, the game also uses the more emotive word ‘murder’ in reference to rabbits and pigs, instead of ‘kill’. In the role-playing game Fable 2, preferring tofu to steak makes the character more fit and ‘pure’. The decision to punish players for mistreating non-human animals was made to balance the game, possibly without any desire to make a statement. Nevertheless, the impact is real.

Players

But what do you do when a particularly permissive game lets you do everything you want, except for leaving animals alone? Do vegan players care?

Many don’t. In fact, a good portion of the people criticising PETA’s article were vegans. Their frustration was understandable: Animal Crossing doesn’t tangibly hurt anybody. But not everyone agrees, and some would prefer to play a game that doesn’t present them with the cognitive dissonance they thought they had left behind.

Some players decide to give themselves constraints and play the game the vegan way. This can make the experience much more challenging when presented with choices such as to wear leather armour or go around naked.

Another option is to modify the game itself. Players can build ‘mods’, an alteration that tweaks the game in small to major ways. A well-known mod is ‘Vegan Life’ for Minecraft.

The original game didn’t allow players, for example, to make a bed without using wool. This project adds vegan alternatives to the game to make its world more veganfriendly.

Game creation

In any case, if you are a vegan gamer it’s about finding what makes you comfortable. After all, games are meant to be fun! Where the power lies is in the hands of game developers. These individuals are the ones deciding what can or can’t be done in pixelated worlds. But that doesn’t have to mean waiting until games reflect a fairer world. Making videogames has never been so easy thanks to game engines – tools that make creation easier. If you’re tech-savvy, why not try making your own game? RPG Maker, Ren’Py and Bitsy are all known for their accessibility and can be mastered in hours. Here’s a fun idea for you: try out the above game engines and try creating a small virtual animal sanctuary.

If you take up Lucas’s challenge and try making your own vegan videogame, we’d love to hear from you.

Email editor@vegansociety.com and let us know how you got on.

Power lies in the hands of game developers