From Farm to Game: Understanding Chinese Culture Through Video Games

This paper examines the farming simulation genre through a detailed case study of Taoyuan (Tencent's mobile title "In the Deep of Peach Blossom Village"), arguing that such games function as more than entertainment. The author contends that the game serves as an emotional refuge and a digital space where players can reconnect with idealized rural life, reflecting a broader cultural longing for simplicity and rootedness amid rapid urbanization and modernization in contemporary China. The analysis situates the title within the wider farming simulation genre and the growing category of Chinese-style games, often described as guófēng, which draw on traditional aesthetics and cultural motifs.

The paper's analysis spans several dimensions of the game, including its artistic design, narrative structure, gameplay mechanics, and integration of traditional Chinese cultural elements. It also looks beyond technical features to consider emotional resonance, examining how the game evokes nostalgia, tranquility, and a sense of connection to cultural heritage. Player feedback and community interactions are considered as indicators of the game's wider social and cultural impact. The work draws on an extensive body of game studies, cultural studies, and rural studies scholarship, including research on the rural idyll in farming games and on Sinophone game studies.

The document positions these games as a means of preserving and reinterpreting traditional farming culture for digital audiences. Its framing rests primarily on qualitative textual and thematic analysis rather than on large-scale quantitative data; the reference list includes industry sources and academic works, but the document does not report survey sample sizes or statistical findings. Its geographic focus is China, and its scope centers on contemporary, post-urbanization gaming culture, with the conclusion that such titles offer players a digital retreat that both reflects and reshapes enduring cultural values.