A few decades ago the masses believed video games were a waste of time for lackadaisical youths to pacify themselves while ignoring their responsibilities as both kids and young adults. As more and more people started understanding the benefits of gaming so too did the perception of what a video game is and, most importantly, the benefits gaming can bestow on a person’s life changed. Hi, my name is James Bullock and I am a gamer who has spent the better part of his existence testing the laws of physics, exploring the vastness of a world ruined, and been a champion inside various arenas courtesy of digitized worlds both driven by reality and created through pure unbelievable ingenuity unlike anything seen by human eyes. And as a gamer I’ve discovered something else video games provide: life lessons. Today I examine a game built on drug abuse “saving” society, “We Happy Few”.
Drugs Don’t Make Problems Go Away
Kids of the 80s and 90s will gladly remember getting a notice from their teachers that a portion of their day will occur outside of class so the students could go to the gymnasium, auditorium, or even the cafeteria to watch a group of people explain why the generation to follow them shouldn’t use drugs or alcohol. While the message was exemplary, the lack of argument in favor of always left people a little perturbed or even downright angry. The anti message, at times, motivated a negative backlash. But the fact is the abuse of drugs and/or alcohol can cause more problems than they’re worth. Though in the USA the argument of legalizing marijuana rages on, the world of video games has seen the enforcing of drug usage on its members of “society” time & time again; with a recent addition to that list of games potentially being the most profound yet: “We Happy Few”.
Set in an alternate timeline of the 1960s where the Germans who tried to win World War II actually succeeded after the United States didn’t join the Allies, the United Kingdom fell to the German forces. With members of the Home Guard turning on their countrymen to save their own hides, the UK became a shell of its former self right down to its lesser towns including Wellington Wells. By fighting back, the people of Wells were left traumatized and suffering from PTSD. The government decided to help their people not with therapy, but by doping them out of their minds with a hallucinogenic drug known as “Joy”.
While on Joy, the people of Wellington Wells see everything as candy-coated, bright, cheerful, and almost “Wizard of Oz” like before the drug’s effects wear off and leave those prone to reality & potentially death. This running away from reality through drug abuse shows a great warping of the mind and even significant memory loss by its users when those who are free of the drug’s grip see the truth in front of them including their own friends becoming nothing short of monsters that will kill those who are considered a “Downer”. Drugs can be beneficial, but a person must always be aware if using is actually beneficial or just an escape from a bigger problem. If it’s the latter, one may end up smashing a rat thinking it’s a piñata during a children’s birthday party.
Have you learned any major life lessons from playing the “We Happy Few” or any video game for that matter? Leave them in the comments below and, as always, thanks for reading.
