Winning against prejudice. Video games in shaping attitudes toward social exclusion

Abstract

Contemporary video games have many functions — they diagnose social problems, engage players in discussions about economics, war, politics or mental health, and sometimes support the therapeutic process. Video games take on difficult topics. Thanks to this, players can realize that the problems of others are also theirs, regardless of their country of origin or social status. The use of video games in civic education allows for the transfer of experience, and not just theory. The article aims to prove that socially engaged video games are games that help solve problems and reach people with a certain message. The author is interested in the discourse created in this way concerning gender, sexuality, race and the broader figure of the Other. The game experience prepares us for other, more insightful views of reality. Thanks to this, we can take a critical attitude toward ourselves and society. Technological developments show us that we are facing a process of reconsidering humanistic values. Nowadays, we are all to some extent doomed to self-creation, improvisation and negotiating with the world of our own aspirations and dreams.