“In a culture where drug use is criminalized, art offers a safe way to explore what nobody wants to say out loud. Games in particular are uniquely able to simulate the compulsive and all-consuming nature of addiction through interactivity. Games like Katana Zero, Lisa: The Painful, and Kentucky Route Zero use the medium’s choice-based narrative qualities to portray addiction with respect and empathy, which can help players better understand and process the role of addiction in their real lives”
“By exploring how autonomy, a quality uniquely inherent to games, can guide the emotional experience of a player, games like Katana Zero, Lisa: The Painful, and Kentucky Route Zero create meaningful depictions of addiction that rhyme with the real experience”