The game will begin in an extremely simple setting. A child needs a babysitter. The person playing the game is the babysitter. Initially, the game will start with a sweet backdrop of caring for the child, feeding them milk, and playing with them. Then, as the game gradually progresses to harder levels, the real game will begin. Supernatural elements will emerge in the child's behaviour and appearance. Surviving these supernatural events is the real task of this game. Gamers will frequently face sudden ghostly attacks.
Horror as gameplay: Fear layered level by level
The game is called 'The Baby in Yellow'. A game development company from Scotland is the creator of this horror game. Similarly, a Spanish game development company has created another horror game called 'Evil Nun'. There, the gamer gets trapped in a school. An unsatisfied spirit or evil nun will chase them. Escaping from that school in various ways is the game's task. There, too, layer by layer, there is only fear along with the beckoning of death.
Ghaziabad tragedy and gaming addiction claims
Three teenage sisters in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, who committed suicide by jumping from a 9th-floor balcony around 2 AM on Tuesday, February 3, were addicted to these two games, according to police sources. Along with these games, they considered themselves Korean, not Indian. Sources claim that to break the three girls' mobile game and video addiction, their parents had not given them mobile phones for several days. Investigators believe this tragic incident occurred due to that frustration.
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What is ‘digital escapist syndrome’?
According to experts, the struggle to escape and survive increases the secretion of dopamine, the happiness hormone, in teenagers' brains in such a way that they begin to consider ordinary joys of the real world as trivial. Experts call this 'Digital Escapist Syndrome', where children choose such dark worlds to escape the pressure of real-life studies or family problems. When a teenager plays games involving hours of terror and simultaneously compares their life with the unrealistic and perfect lives of Korean idols, it creates a 'parasocial relationship' or one-sided emotional connection within them. According to psychiatrist Rajarshi Niyogi, "The three primary causes of dopamine secretion are sex, food, and drink. But dopamine secretion can also occur from gaming addiction."
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According to Souvik Dasgupta, a former game developer and current sociology researcher, "Companies that develop games first determine the age of their target audience. Then they research what types of colours, graphics, and sounds will attract that age group psychologically before developing the game." Souvik adds, "Games offer various types of rewards. Players receive prizes that keep the game going due to the attraction of even better rewards."
According to experts, parents should maintain strict surveillance over their children's internet usage while building friendly relationships with them. Setting 'parental control' and 'screen time limits' on smartphones is now a demand of the times.
