Video games aren't about power – they're about agency

There's a cliche that narrative games are about power fantasies. But maybe the satisfaction comes from having a sense of control that real life doesn't afford us

Most of us accept the idea that video games are about power. From highly cerebral simulations like Civilization to run 'n' gun blasters such as Call of Duty and Battlefield, the successful player will usually rise in status from a lowly grunt to a celebrated and powerful hero, often leaving thousands of vanquished foes in their wake. This basic structure is certainly not unique to games - it is the essential metanarrative that has informed storytelling for generations, as catalogued by Joseph Campbell in his famed work, the Hero With a Thousand Faces. We like to tell and hear stories about people overcoming obstacles to become glorious heroes. It seems like human nature.

But in video games, I wonder sometimes if something much more subtle and instinctive is going on. Perhaps games aren't really about power, they're actually more about agency - the idea that we can have any sort of influence and control over what happens to us, and the world around us.