Let’s Play I Am Old and Tired

At the centre is the figure of a weary hero who wishes to lead a secluded life in the mountains of a video game – a stark contrast to the typical, eternally young and motivated avatar. For whilst the main characters in video games usually begin as youthful up-and-comers and learn to dominate the world as the game progresses, their bodies know neither age nor frailty, illness nor listlessness. But what if the avatar is old, indecisive and unmotivated? What if he has grown weary of an excess of stimuli, impulses and information and is actually too exhausted to bother with his quests any longer?

The dream of retreating to a simpler life in nature is as old as capitalism itself. And yet, in times of climate collapse and disastrous tech-fascism, it is more tempting than ever. Fatigue and exhaustion are omnipresent and permanent symptoms of a chronically ailing economic logic. The video game becomes a place of refuge, a digital hut by a digital lake: a safe space and a reliable promise of distraction and adventure.

A story about escapism and exhaustion, about growing older and fatigue – and about the question of what superpowers a hero might develop who no longer wants to carry on fighting.

(GERMAN & ENGLISH)