Mending the Broken World, Rebuilding the Community: On Positive Biopolitics in Digital Games

Positive biopolitics in digital games functions as a framework for reimagining governance, shifting the focus from traditional state control toward environmental restoration and multispecies stewardship. By analyzing simulation and strategy titles such as Terra Nil and The Wandering Village, it becomes clear that game mechanics serve as critical testbeds for exploring democratic agency and reflexive self-formation. These digital environments move beyond neoliberal models of power, instead utilizing simulation to foster a sense of care and maintenance in the face of global ecological crises.

The industry landscape for this analysis centers on contemporary simulation games that prioritize constructive mending over destructive conquest. These titles are categorized into two distinct paradigms: mandatory governance, which relies on fixed environmental parameters to achieve technological restoration, and optional governance, which introduces ambivalence and the potential for parasitic relationships. By mapping biopolitical markers—including biopower, immunity, and thanatopolitics—across mechanical and conceptual frameworks, the research demonstrates how game design structures mirror complex philosophical inquiries into the ethics of governing life.

Ultimately, these games function as vehicles for navigating the tension between constructive repair and the exclusionary mechanisms of authority. By engaging in ecoplay, players are encouraged to grapple with the inherent anthropocentrism of their actions and the complexities of symbiotic management. This synthesis of biopolitical theory and interactive design suggests that digital games possess the unique capacity to transform governance into a conscientious practice of environmental stewardship, providing a space where players can rehearse sustainable, community-oriented futures.