Playing without fear: when video games adapt to phobias

Video games are often seen as an escape from reality, an opportunity to have adventures and explore imaginary worlds. Yet for some gamers, this escape can become a source of fear and anxiety. Phobias, whether they are common like arachnophobia or rare like thalassophobia, are emotionally intense and can spoil the gaming experience. For this reason, more and more games have started to take this into account by offering options to disable certain elements that trigger phobias or may recall traumas.
In this article, we will explore the different ways in which video games accommodate phobias to allow players to play without fear.

Phobias and video games

Phobias are irrational fears that are triggered by specific stimuli, such as spiders, heights, deep water and many others. The most common phobias among video game players are usually related to the environments, creatures, and situations presented in the games.

For example, arachnophobia is likely to be exacerbated in games such as ‘Minecraft’, ‘Satisfactory’, ‘Star Wars Jedi: Survivor’ and ‘Grounded’ where spiders are enemies to be fought. People with thalassophobia are likely to experience anxiety when playing games such as “Subnautica” and “Horizon Forbidden West”, which feature deep, underwater environments. Games such as “Dying Light 2” and “Mirror’s Edge”, on the other hand, are likely to trigger acrophobia by presenting high or empty environments to jump over. Of course, this list is not exhaustive, as there are many phobias.

These phobias have emotional and physical consequences for people. The anxiety and stress caused by a phobia lead to physical symptoms such as shaking, nausea or chest pain. These symptoms in turn amplify the gamer’s anxiety, creating a vicious circle. They may also find it difficult to concentrate on the game, which can affect their overall gaming experience and lead to a refund.

Adapting video games to phobias is a real challenge. As phobias are often irrational and varied, it isn't very easy to anticipate all the stimuli that could trigger them in a person playing the game. In addition, some video games are designed to evoke intense emotions, which can be a barrier to adding options to disable certain elements. However, despite these challenges, many games offer said options to avoid players being triggered by their phobias.

Content deactivation options

These options allow you to customize the game experience by turning off phobia, anxiety, or trauma triggers. In some games, you are able to replace spiders with less scary creatures (as in “Satisfactory” where spiders are replaced by cats), make them completely invisible in the game or just reduce the physical features of the spiders, as in “Grounded”. Similarly, if you have a phobia of the ocean floor, you can (depending on the game) disable sections that take place in watery environments. Or even been granted the ability to have better vision and breathe without problems, as in “Horizon Zero: Forbidden West”. Other games will also allow you to remove jump scares that may be present.

The best thing about these options is that they can be turned on and off at any time during the game, allowing you to really customize your gaming experience to suit your needs. These options have been very well received by the gaming community, as well as by industry professionals. People suffering from phobias or trauma have expressed their gratitude for these options, which allow them to enjoy video games without fear of triggering a crisis.

For others, this is very bad news, as they feel that these options make the game easier, less realistic and therefore less immersive. For these people, the game's challenge lies in overcoming their fears, including phobias. However, it is important to remember that we all have differences and that the accessibility options, which allow certain triggers to be deactivated, are an important achievement for a number of people. It is indispensable to remember that these are options and that they must be activated to have an impact on the game, they are not imposed at launch.

But it’s not just about phobias

It should be noted that phobias and scenes of graphic violence and bloodshed are affected. These scenes are capable of awakening traumas in some people, and turning them off or skipping them allows everyone to enjoy the best possible gaming experience.

For this reason, some games offer warning messages about the sensible content that will appear on the screen. This is notably the case with the remake of “Dead Space” which, in addition to warning of the content, offers the possibility of blurring scenes that are too graphic (the downside is that the audio remains as it is…).

“The Last of Us Part II” has included warnings and messages to alert players to the presence of violent and traumatic content. These messages will allow us to make informed choices about our gaming experience and avoid exposing ourselves to non-consensual situations.
This is also the case for the visual novel “Doki Doki Literature Club” which prevents players from potentially disturbing subjects at the beginning of the game and throughout the experience.

Other games will be able to evoke intense emotions, such as anxiety and stress. As with phobias and traumas, mechanisms exist in some games to help the player manage their emotions.

For example, in the game “Sea of Thieves”, there is an option to reduce the music in combat, which can help you to relax when you are facing stressful battles. The same goes for the game “Oxenfree”, which also has options to adjust the frequency of supernatural events. “The Sims 4” also has an option to suppress anxiety-producing events.

But other games take this a step further by adjusting the difficulty of the game according to the player’s stress level. This is the case with “Nevermind”, a horror game that uses biofeedback to measure stress levels. The calmer you are, the easier the game will be, which can help you deal with your stress and anxiety in some way.

A need for information

Video games have the potential to provide enriching and entertaining experiences for all people, regardless of their fears, traumas, and anxieties. Studios have a crucial role to play in adapting video games to provide content-disabling options, anxiety-reducing mechanisms and warnings to prevent fear or trauma triggers. And also to highlight these options so that people can find out about them before the game is released, just as with accessibility options. Because even if the PEGI rating can give an idea, it is often not enough, and it is preferable to detail the content present in the game to avoid unpleasant surprises.

With these adjustments, video games can be useful tools to help players play without fear, and to improve their mental and emotional well-being. The future of video games must be inclusive, diverse, and accessible to allow everyone to fully enjoy this form of entertainment.

Sources :

• IGN, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor Has an Arachnophobia Toggle That Lets You Remove Spiders Altogether, par Anthony Wood
• Numerama, Horizon : Forbidden West prend maintenant en compte votre thalassophobie, par Wilfried Apithy
• Polygon, How content warnings became invaluable in modern games, par Cass Marshall
• Kotaku, Consent And Compassion: How Devs Are Reshaping The Conversation Around Content Warnings, par Claire Jackson
• Gameluster, Phobias and Video Games Part One: The Negatives, par Iain Baker
• Wired, Scary Video Games Help Me Cope With My Fears About Reality, par Zoë Hannah
• Inverse, How Arachnophobia Inspired a New Type of Gaming Innovation, par Grant Stoner