Re:What's the scariest thing in the world? Ask your teenage ...
by Mithaldu on Wednesday July 16, 2014 @12:37PM
(#8042954)
Nope, you need to keep the game's context in mind. The task is to get the pizza from point A to point B as fast as possible. Thus Gemma isn't simply fleeing, she's ignoring the bullies and focusing on doing what she wants to do. Depression comes from letting the bullies control her and happiness comes from refusing to do so. This very concept is in fact expressly embodied in the game with a little sequence where letting them get to her makes her fall to the ground, and she has to force herself to get back up and keep going.
Re:What's the scariest thing in the world? Ask your teenage ...
by ohitsdom on Wednesday July 16, 2014 @04:11PM
(#8044252)
"You don’t kill the enemies in Ninja Pizza Girl. You can’t even knock them out. Sure, you can bowl them over for a second or two but if you hang around they’ll get right back up again. Running away is just as viable as attacking and sometimes more so. Running fast makes Gemma feel good about herself and feeling good is the most fragile resource in the game."
I'd say running fast isn't just about delivering pizza fast, it seems to be about avoiding bullies too.
> The game tracks Gemma’s emotional state. When she’s running fast and jumping high, she feels good and the world is filled with light and color. When she gets laughed at, her mood darkens and the world darkens with her.
That just reinforces that bullying inevitably and inexorably leads to depression. And then it also reinforces that acting happy ("running fast and jumping high") is the way to counteract it.
In other words, it's the old standby advice of "just ignore them" in video game form.