GamePhobias: Help tag game content for mental safety

NP. I do salute the intention of this wiki, it's a useful tool I can see for some people to have :)

I wanted to check if you have Dark Messiah of Might and Magic listed. The spiders there? Horrifying. Even more so than those in Skyrim, and the Skyrim spiders are pretty awful.

It's not listed, but you can submit a review if you feel you're familiar enough with the game's content.

Today I learned that Mario Kart is absolutely terrifying.

Animal Crossing too.

edited 14th Sep '14 2:00:14 PM by WackyPancake

It can be if you have the right (or... wrong) phobias, yeah. Anything can.

Dunno man. If you get agitated because Donkey Kong is a gorilla and sometimes they throw Koopa shells at him I don't think you should be playing any video games period.

Also, the little bomb guys are called Bob-ombs, not "bomb-ombs".

edited 14th Sep '14 2:31:23 PM by WackyPancake

If you don't have anything helpful to say, then why do you feel the need to contribute?

No one should be barred from playing all video games ever just because they have a phobia that's maybe not so common.

Making fun of people for their fears is a pretty shitty thing to do.

Now I was kinda mentally chuckling at this concept when I first read it, but then I realized it has it's merits. I, for one, would like to know if something contains teeth pulling/damage/other dental horror, etc.

Don't put words in my mouth, I'm making fun of no one. In fact, I am merely reinstating a point made in the previous page. While this website is a great idea for horror or just more mature games, I seriously doubt anybody is gonna be scared by anything in Mario Kart. If you ask me, I don't think they should include those kind of games, because it makes the site look bad and devalues how potentially useful it can be.

In any case, it seems like I've walked into this thread with the wrong foot, and in those cases it's always best to exit the building early. So au revoir, mes amis.

edited 14th Sep '14 3:02:21 PM by WackyPancake

Remember also that the site is meant to help gamers of all ages and backgrounds. This isn't just a resource for older players, it can be of use to children and their parents - maybe it's implausible that an adult would be upset by Donkey Kong getting hurt, but kids react differently to a lot of things. Just think about how many examples on our Nightmare Fuel pages were specifically added because they were terrifying during our childhoods.

Pancake, people have all sorts of phobias, of varying intensity. Please don't make statements like "no one is going to be scared of something in Mario Kart". Doing so demonstrates your lack of knowledge of the realities of phobias, and is dismissive and rude, to boot. If you don't see any point in this endeavor, there's no need for you to comment on it.

I have to agree. I myself have a very strong aversion to grass to the point where even looking at people standing in grass can make me nauseous. Now that doesn't mean I can't ever look at grass, or that it does affect my gaming habits, but it is a bit problematic in my work (I work for a company that makes websites for busineses, and sometimes I have to add photos, there was this one site with trained dogs, and they generally make these photos in grass).

Long story short, people can have stupid-ass phobias, doesn't make it less real.

Also, thank you very much. Now I have a mental image of grass in my head that prevents me from falling asleep.

edited 14th Sep '14 3:58:56 PM by GaryCXJk

In addition to what has already been stated, we decided that while we've got a database going, there's no real reason not to list every game we can. I also had Mario Kart 8 lying around and I knew it would make for a fast review, and we are trying to populate the list as much as possible.

By the way, Game Phobias, I think it's an excellent idea, and I applaud your efforts to make it as inclusive as possible. I admit that I was not fully aware of how severe phobias can be, to the point that even a picture of the trigger could be enough, until we had to deal with the page image on Why Did It Have to Be Snakes? here. It had never occurred to me that simply a photo of a snake in the upper corner of the page could be sufficient until a Troper asked that it be removed and explained.

I think this is a fairly interesting concept. At first blush I thought it was going to be a Tumblr-esque whine-fest, but it seems to be a fairly objective and useful documentation, and as stated on the last page it isn't judging the games for including such content. It's not a site I really have any use for myself, but I suppose it'll make games more accessible to those with phobias.

I kind of dismissed the idea at first too, because Tumblr has basically ruined the word "trigger". But after taking a look, and thinking about my own situation, I definitely think this is a great idea.

I have always had difficulty with spiders. Just the thought of them makes my skin crawl and my scalp itch. I can't even look at images of them without being extremely uncomfortable. And it has affected the games I play.
I've only played through Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets for PC once because, being Chamber of Secrets, spiders are fairly common enemies toward the late game, and Aragog is a boss.
I love Twilight Princess, but the only reason I can force myself through the Temple of Time (not to mention the various places Skulltula appear) is because I love the series so much and it has my favourite final boss. Even then, it's only because I have the Wii version, where the bow control you need to kill Armogohma is based on the pointer. If it was analog sticks, I'd never make it through.
I'll never play the REmake of Resident Evil, because the Black Tiger would give me a panic attack. I think it's not until RE4 that giant spiders stop being a real presence in the series.
And whenever a fantasy franchise comes up on Playstation+, I look up the enemies on its wiki to see if spiders are a concern, and I have to be very careful because wikis tend to have images. I cannot stress enough how grateful I am after thinking about it that a site like this exists. Even the ones that I think are silly, if they affect someone the way I'm affected by spiders, then I'm glad they have a place like this to warn them.

I don't think I'll have any personal use for the site. The only phobia I've ever had isn't even listed on the website anyway (Not to mention the operative word is "had").

I'm glad to see it has utility to you, though.

Well, what was the phobia you used to have? Maybe it could be added so other people who have it can benefit.

I haven't actually looked at the site yet, but is there a tag on there for constantly blinking sounds or critical music (e.g. the low health tone in Pokémon, the Sonic the Hedgehog drowning music—particularly the 16-bit versions of it). While it's not to the level of a full blown phobia for me, it does tend to give me great anxiety and distress at times, and I'd imagine other people have it even worse with those than I do.

That is a cool idea.

Not of use for me, but I like the concept.

I also recommend adding a tag for other animals, especially dogs, as I know someone IRL who'se been bitten by one and is since terrified of dogs (and wolves) which give her panic attacks. And those are some pretty common video game enemies, right behind giant spiders!

edited 14th Sep '14 11:17:35 PM by Ghilz

A tag for terrifying ambiance/musical themes would be nice. Would Scare Chord also fall under the purview of the wiki? Also consider the Trope Hell Is That Noise, while certain sounds fall under other categories, Consider the Jaws Theme for example, or thanks to slender, the sound of static.

edited 15th Sep '14 7:17:14 AM by stevebat

Thanks all for your suggestions. We can't add any new tags for a little bit due to internal reasons, but when we are able to add some, I will give these consideration.

After thinking about it, Scare Chords, at least, would probably fall under the auspices of Jump Scares, because they are essentially auditory jump scares. The Hell is That Noise would, for the moment, most likely fall under Psychological Trauma, given what I read on the page, as it's something that is damaging to the character. That said, because these things have a place now does not mean that they may not eventually get their own place.

edited 15th Sep '14 8:47:58 AM by GamePhobias

Interface Screw s are a must, either on their own or as part of a greater tag related to psychological trauma for the player. It's where something in the game causes the screen to shift weirdly, or the controls to change. You generally can't function as well til the IS clears up, and you're left at a serious disadvantage if something hostile comes after you.

They don't especially phase me, but I'm sure there are plenty of people who Trigger from them.

edited 15th Sep '14 11:19:00 AM by Journeyman

True, but I fear that the audio aspect of it might be enough to merit its own category. Jump scares tend to rely on the visual and auditory combined, or just the visual. "Auditory Scares" might be a worthy tag on its own, especially considering how some people might find more trauma in the audio aspect of something than a visual aspect.