The wounds that never healed : videoludic trauma in Cry of fear

Abstract

This article offers a conceptualization of trauma in horror video games, and in Cry of Fear (Team Psykskallar, 2013) in particular. It argues that video games can cut across the reality/fiction divide, deeply affect the emotional organization of the player, and leave them with wounds that take time to heal—a phenomenon I call “videoludic trauma.” More specifically, it develops the idea that Cry of Fear can induce a form of trauma in the player by putting them in horrifying and intense situations. Drawing on trauma studies, bleed theory, and phenomenology, this paper first defines “videoludic trauma,” contrasts it with “positive discomfort” (Jørgensen, 2016), and introduces the concept of “horror flow.” Then, using these concepts as a starting point, it examines how Cry of Fear represents trauma symptomatology and presents four vignettes that each focuses on a specific aspect or moment in Cry of Fear that had a strong impact on my gaming experience—from the visceral combat system to the feeling of loneliness the game led me to experience. This paper provides new analytical tools and vocabulary to talk about our trauma-like experiences with video games and lays the groundwork for future research focusing on the relationship between trauma and the horror genre.