Sentience Stream: How can we challenge anthropocentrism through posthumanist video game design?

Abstract

This Practice-based Research project resulted in the creation of a video game and accompanying written exegesis. The game "Sentience Stream", developed in Construct 3, is rooted in theoretical concepts from posthumanism studies and aims to challenge players to rethink traditional human-centric views by exploring relationships between humans, animals, and machines. Directed by the research question "How can we challenge anthropocentrism through posthumanist video game design?" this project closely reviews critical literature on the burgeoning field of posthumanism and related theories. Creative works by game creators and artists further serve as inspiration for this project, for how they give non-human characters first-person agency and main character status in games. I adopt multiple practice-based game design methods to provide an immersive game experience for players, intending to shift the player's perspective from a human to being an orca and then a 'cyborg orca', aiming to foster empathy for non-human actors and blurring the lines between humans and non-human beings. The game aims to promote a broader understanding of subjectivity beyond humans through this ontological shift. In a world where technology is increasingly significant, my work aims to develop a call to action wherein both players and game designers can use games to reflect on the present and think about coming actions in a posthuman future.