Human-Nature Relationships through Video Games: An Exploration of Players' Sense-Making

Technology profoundly mediates how people feel, think and engage with nature. Here, video games are projected to become one of the most important mediums to facilitate digital human-nature interaction. In this paper, we explore how 16 players make sense of nature-in-games. Drawing from their own lived experiences, we 1) interviewed them, and 2) invited them to show us games that exemplify their conceptualisation of nature-in-games. We thematically analyse these “show-and-tell” conversations to construct three inductive themes: We arrive at an understanding that nature-in-games experiences are pluralistic, contested happenings. Participants positioned digital nature 1) as a relational other to respect, 2) as a space to reflect on humankind’s current practices towards nature and 3) as a tool to escape from the lack of nature in their everyday lives. Based on our insights, we sketch out design inspirations for people wishing to augment, challenge and expand nature-in-games.