These past few weeks, video game enthusiasts have been quite well fed by our favorite Japanese entertainment company. At Nintendo, Pokopia is drowning in a tsunami of adoration from a populous of Pokémon fans who had been yearning for a fresh game for years. On top of that, a long-awaited Tomodachi Life sequel looms on the horizon. With just the release of its demo, Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream has players bouncing off the wall.
Since this uptick of related content on my feed, I’ve come to observe a trend. Almost every video I come across about these games has one obvious thing in common.
Unfettered, explosive, boundary-stretching creativity.
So, I’m here now to try and convince you of one thing that some have been saying for years: Video games are quickly becoming the newest and most unique medium for artistic expression, and it is awesome.
Obviously, the development of a video game involves all kinds of creativity, from concept sketches to sculpting to writing scripts. On their own, many already consider video games to be a work of art. However, my point lies less with the team behind the game and more with the players who wield the controller.
Starting with Pokopia, a cozy sandbox with three hundred friendly critters to recruit, the main feature that ensnares players for hours on end is not the exploration or the Pokémon interactions (although they are huge pluses), it’s the potential for expression. All over the internet, people proudly post their builds as they utilize the expansive terrain customization features of the game to create astonishing architectural feats. Mansions, castles, villages and cities, skyscrapers, farms, mountains and valleys, underground complexes, and more have been sculpted into this squishy creature game. People pour hundreds of hours into it, and the result? Masterfully curated worlds that are packed to the brim with entirely unique structures and landscapes.
Reviews praise the addictive gameplay loop and refreshing sense of unadulterated freedom, with many online even remarking how this game takes the most enjoyable parts of Animal Crossing: New Horizons—a boundary-pushing game in its own right that began to broaden the scope of customizability in Nintendo’s casual games—and skyrocketing these parts to… even newer horizons!
Then there’s Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream. Within just days of the release of its humble little demo, the game’s eager fanbase went wild. Players were chomping at the bit for the new customization features available when creating their Miis (inhabitants for your in-game island). In addition to new hairstyles, skin tones, and facial features, Living the Dream includes a ground-breaking tool—the ability to draw directly onto the face of your Mii. To those already a fan of art and creating personal OCs or “Original Characters,” this increased the depth of originality tenfold when it came to character design.
As a huge fan and frequent player of the original twelve-year-old Tomodachi Life game, I can say without a doubt that these additions are genuinely game-changing. Each custom Mii that pops up on my feed is more striking and intricate than the last.
Even before these recent releases, video games have acted as a powerful medium, and almost everyone has heard of the most famous example, Minecraft. For fifteen years, Minecraft has been the realm of endless possibilities. From elaborate builds to Redstone-based coding, to roleplay and storytelling, many have found their creative niche thanks to their time with the game. Players managed to build a functioning computer within the confines of the game, and countless content creators online have risen to fame using Minecraft as the basis for fictional mini-series that are professionally produced and fully voice-acted. So, video games as a medium aren’t a new development, not by a long shot.
In the case of all these games, the artistic expression I speak of lies solely in the hands of the player. Pencils are traded for joysticks, paint and paper for keyboard and mouse. These people aren’t creating art that is video games; they are using video games to create art. Maybe I’m just easily awestruck, but this development is so refreshing to see, especially in a time of artificial intelligence and the desecration of the arts.
I wonder if people who create these worlds in Pokopia or these characters in Tomodachi Life consider what they’re doing as art. I imagine many have never before thought of gaming in that way, and it’s a shame. So many young folks fail to see their talent because it’s not conventionally expressed. Sure, you might not be able to draw a horse, but you sculpted worlds. You created life, albeit in the form of tiny, silly, digital characters. That takes a skill. That skill is creativity, one of the most valuable in the world, and hopefully, you all now see the value of it in video games.