Tiny Brush Strokes on the Larger Canvas

 “There is nothing insignificant in the world. It all depends on the point of view.”

— Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

People sometimes say we need to see the bigger picture, the forest from the trees, the larger canvas. Such phrases always remind me of Georges Seurat’s masterpiece of pointillism, A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte. Stand back and the viewer takes in the entire painting, which, at 10 feet wide, is quite a canvas. Step closer and one sees the tiny points of paint which make up tge larger characters, landscape, and the overall picture. Ferris Beuller’s Day Off artfully demonstrated this during the tourism montage scenes. Historically themed games allow us to explore new perspectives, form connections with the subject matter, and hopefully gain a greater understanding of events...notably the people involved. Many such games focus on the big picture — abstracted political factions, military units, entire regions of geography, and other broad generalizations — but a contrast between that and the finer details (and everything in between) helps us better appreciate the whole on different levels.

Games Offer First-Hand Perspective

 “You will always have partial points of view, and you’ll always have the story behind the story that hasn't come out yet.”

— Margaret Atwood

I’ve written recently about immersing ourselves in films, books, and games to help broaden our perception of a particular literary genre or historical period. It’s a different way to expand our experiences through diverse media; yet games put us in the moment in a deeper way than films and books. Most media begins and ends at fixed points, providing a step-by-step narrative that often helps us identify with the experience of individuals and their perspectives as the plot unfolds. Games start at a fixed point, too, but where they end — and how they get there — often remains uncertain until played out. As we take turns, we assess the “game state” at that moment, plot our moves, and ultimately see how they succeed. Games give us first-hand experience at estimating a situation and forming a plan of action in response to that situation in a way that “fixed” media relying on plots do not. They can immerse us in an event as it evolves; even though we might know how it turns out, the participants at that time and place did not. Games can offer us a taste of that experience as players try to comprehend and react to a developing situation.