Video games can evoke feelings of liberating escapism while shaping perceptions of real life. In her anthology, Evocative Objects: Things We Think With, Sherry Turkle demonstrates the ability of objects to facilitate transitional periods of life. Several chapters demonstrate how beloved objects can mediate coming-of-age experiences. When reflecting on my own belongings, I realized a Nintendo game titled, Harvest Moon: More Friends of Mineral Town, mediated my perceptions of adulthood. I perceive this cherished game as my own “evocative object”; as a young child, its virtual world evoked my excitement towards growing up.
For my seventh birthday, my oldest sister gifted me a mysterious Macy’s box. Inside the box was my first video game console–a pink, hand-me-down GameBoy Advance. Inside the console was a game cartridge titled, Harvest Moon: More Friends of Mineral Town. As I flipped the console’s on-switch for the first time, a saturated, pixelated screen and a cheerful soundtrack greeted me. The game was a farming simulator, where the main character collects profits by selling dairy, poultry, crops, and foraged items across the quaint atmosphere of Mineral Town. While creating a profitable farm, the player can build relationships with NPC townspeople, get married, and start a family. The game never ends; however, one can presume that winning consists of bringing economic prosperity to the town and becoming a likeable figure among its citizens. At the young age of seven, I did not realize the game’s themes of coming-of-age, hard work, and social acceptance. Now, as a twenty-year-old reflecting on its narrative, I recognize its depiction of adulthood through the player’s journey of moving to a new town, meeting new people, and pursuing a risky career.
I played this game for hours on end, under the covers past bedtime, and during the morning before school; Harvest Moon: More Friends of Mineral Town not only catalyzed my love for video games, but mediated my expectations of adulthood. Through numerous hours of improving my farm and achieving a successful lifestyle for the in-game protagonist, the game subconsciously instilled the message that hard work results in joy and companionship. Additionally, the game introduced concepts of trade and capitalism to its child audience by framing a profitable lifestyle as the player’s ultimate goal. Within the game, the protagonist can earn the townspeople’s admiration by gifting them items and talking to them on a daily basis. This mechanic led my immature mind to think that in reality, showering individuals with their favoured items and repeatedly speaking to them would guarantee their loyalty. The addictive, interactive medium illustrated friendships as collectible prizes, rather than everchanging, complex relationships. Unknowingly, this piece of electronic media produced an unrealistic view of adult life as fun, easy, and exciting.
I believe this evocative object would belong in Turkle’s chapter, “Objects of Transition and Passage”. Turkle notes transitional objects “[mediate]” a child’s “growing recognition” of their independence (Winnicott qtd. in 314). Harvest Moon: More Friends of Mineral Town taught me such independence by forcing me to make responsible choices in a low-stakes environment. If I forgot to feed my livestock or water my crops, my profits could hinder. Then, I would have less money to purchase gifts for my in-game neighbours and I would lose their friendship; as a result, the game taught me accountability in a simulated setting. However, as I grew older, I lost interest in the game. I no longer needed it to simplify the concept of responsibility to me; instead, I practiced “real-life” responsibility through managing schoolwork, chores, and extracurricular pursuits. As I ventured into my teenage years, the game sat in my dusty drawer, supporting Turkle’s view that these objects of childhood development are “destined to be abandoned” (314).
Harvest Moon: More Friends of Mineral Town as a Cyborg Object
Furthermore, this game acts as a “cyborg” object–an object which combines the “natural and the artificial” (Turkle 325). An example of a “cyborg” object is Annalee Newitz’s beloved laptop in the chapter “My Laptop”. Newitz’s relationship with her laptop is deeply “intimate”; the inanimate device melds with her natural self causing her difficulty in distinguishing “where it leaves off and she begins” (Turkle 325). She exists as “one with her virtual persona” and views herself as the ‘“command line…of glowing green letters”’ on her screen (Turkle 325). Similarly to Newitz, I developed an emotional attachment to my virtual persona–the tiny, pixelated farmer on the screen of my GameBoy Advance. The more time I invested in my persona, the more she represented my hard work. As a result, my connection to her grew, similarly to the laptop’s “co-extensive” relationship with Newitz’s “self” (Turkle 325). Altogether, this avatar was not just an escape to a simplistic world where adulthood did not seem so frightening, but a representation of myself and the adult I aspired to be.
Harvest Moon: More Friends of Mineral Town’s Mediation of the Body
As Wegenstein states in Critical Terms for Media Studies, “‘the logic of the computer”’ has afforded humans the ability to exist as numerous “selves” (28). She notes that modern individuals experience satisfaction by constructing several virtual “personas” that contrast their real-life, “mundane” selves (Wegenstein 28). I experienced this phenomenon while developing my in-game persona; my avatar’s economic and social autonomy contrasted my supervised upbringing. Moreover, the amount of exciting tasks the game afforded my character differed greatly from my simple, repetitive childhood. Rather than being a supervised seven-year-old child, the game transformed myself into a farm-owner, creating a self-sufficient life.
Conclusion
Altogether, my virtual experiences afforded by Harvest Moon: More Friends of Mineral Town mediated my expectations of adult life. Through using this object as a form of escapism, I gained a deep emotional connection to this game that remains with me today. While glamourizing adulthood, this game played a role in my childhood development by introducing concepts of hard work and responsibility.
Works Cited
Wegenstein, Bernadette. “Body.” Critical Terms for Media Studies, edited by W.J.T. Mitchell and Mark B.N. Hansen, U of Chicago P, 2010, pp. 19-34.
Turkle, Sherry. “WHAT MAKES AN OBJECT EVOCATIVE?” Evocative Objects: Things We Think With, edited by Sherry Turkle, The MIT Press, 2007, pp. 307–27. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt5hhg8p.39 . Accessed 4 Oct. 2025.
Written by Emily Shin
Photos taken by Emily Shin
Emily, you did a great work analyzing the game’s effects on you and its mediation of a certain life view. I love videogames, so it was very interesting for me to read someone look so in-depth on their impact on player’s perception of reality. And I have to agree that many games tend to simplify their understanding of the world: especially human relationships, economics and labour. Specifically your description of the mediation of body is very interesting and insightful.
You mentioned that your outlook on the game itself has changed as you grew up and lost interest in play-pretend responsibilities, now practicing them in real life. Do you think there is something else the game mediates that stays relevant to you still?
Hi Bara!
Thanks for your response!
This game will always have a special place in my heart. I’ll always long for the simple days where I could play this game for hours. Although this game does unrealistically simplify adult life, it does hold a beautiful theme. It illustrates the beauty of taking life one day at a time and deriving joy from the simple interactions you have with others alongside your daily tasks. I think this is a message I could reflect on more throughout my life.
Emily 🙂
Hi Emily!
Great post, I have never really thought about how games and media I consumed as a young kid shaped my perceptions of adulthood! Your post made me contemplate how kids TV shows drove me to idolize adulthood and started my desire to grow older. It makes me think of institutions of power and the concept of juridifcation in the Law chapter of the Critical Terms for Media Studies book. Juridification describes the omnipresence of governance in a person’s day-to-day. I can apply the concept of jurdification to corporations who have an omnipresence of influence to societal norms. For example, your GameBoy was pink, a color usually depicting young girls. More toys that was pushed to young girls, were kitchen playsets and toy makeup kits. To me, when these toys are pushed from powers above they are setting a standard in society that is perpetuating oppression.
These kinds of games are important to me and it seems to you as well! It is just an interesting observation of how they solidify a normality of traditions within society. Great post! 😀
Thanks so much, Bridghet! I agree with your points, especially about how TV shows perpetuate unrealistic expectations of adulthood. I think high school especially is depicted in such a fictionalized, dramatic way in TV; it makes me wonder how high school cliques in TV caused me to disassociate with different groups of people in my youth.
Hi Emily,
I really loved reading this post, it was so personal and reflective. I found your connection to the game being a “cyborg object” to be really fascinating. As what I’m sure most, if not all, of us reading have experienced, we’ve more than likely been connected to our devices since an early age. I know for me, the family computer at my house (RIP to the concept of the family computer) was where I would put in the HOURS on my favourite game, Fantage (RIP too). Like you, my avatar was another representation of myself, even though it was in no way reflective of the real world’s operations. It’s you but it’s simultaneously not. In my game’s self, like you mentioned, I had the flexibility and the means to do things I wouldn’t have been able to do at 8 years old, like go to a fashion show on a hoverboard.
Same here! I do miss the concept of the family computer as well. Its nice hearing about others’ similar experiences in using video game avatars as escapism! Thanks for sharing,
Emily
I loved your blog post it was such a lovely reflection on the way that the game a child plays can affect what you consider growing up to be. The way you connected Harvest Moon with Turkle’s “Objects of Transition and Passage” was so smart it really showed how the game taught you about responsibility but offered comfort and a space to escape. Your description of Turkle’s “cyborg object” was also particularly effective contrasting your character in-game with Newitz’s laptop in really illustrating how virtual identities overlap with our own sense of self. Made me think about how much our experiences online influence who we are in the real world. I also enjoyed your mention of Wegenstein’s “multiple selves” it brought everything full circle nicely. Do you think that your childhood experiences playing Harvest Moon continue to influence the way you dream up adulthood or undertake responsibility today?
Thanks so much, Mio! In response to your question, I do think the game continues to influence me today. I’m definitely am not as obsessed with it as I was as a child. In fact, I haven’t touched the console in quite a long time, but I think sometimes I like to view daily tasks as a game that comes with rewards to make life feel less serious and overwhelming.
Emily
So cute! I can resonate with your connection to an old, childhood game console. The notion that this game introduces children to the world of capitalism really stuck with me… I’m amazed you remember this gift so vividly at the age of 7! 10/10 Loved.
Thanks Maxine! I found that surprising too! I didn’t really realize it until this assignment 🙂
Emily
Emily, I really enjoyed reading your post, it felt so genuine and nostalgic! The way you described Harvest Moon as a bridge between childhood and adulthood really made me think about how games can quietly shape who we become. I used to play Animal Crossing, and it gave me a similar sense of calm responsibility, watering flowers, talking to neighbours, building something of my own. Like you said, it taught lessons about consistency and care without ever feeling like work.
I also liked your point about friendships in the game feeling like “collectible prizes.” It’s such an interesting reflection on how media can simplify human connection especially for kids who are still learning what relationships mean. And your mention of Turkle’s “objects of transition” made me realize how digital worlds can act like comfort objects too, not physically but emotionally, perhaps? Your post really made me reflect on how even something as small as a game can leave a lasting mark on how we see life, work, and relationships. It’s really beautiful how you tied all of that together! : )
I think this exploration of the idea of the online persona affording you the opportunity to transition into an adult persona is a really interesting angle to explore! The connections drawn between Wegensteins ideas about body and your online avatar’s autonomy in comparison is particularly interesting to me. I have always felt like video games do afford a particular kind of autonomy and independence for users, but I guess I had just never considered my in-game persona as being separate from my own self. But now that you put it that way, it makes perfect sense!
Also the idea that the in-game persona allowed you to practice being an adult in a safe, mediated setting really made me look back at similar kinds of games I used to play before and realize that that might be part of the reason why I grew out of them.
Hi Emily! I really loved your analysis on video games as a form of escapism that offers humans the ability to be multiple selves. I find it interesting that Turkel describes the real world-self as ‘mundane’ when so many games center around themes like farming, building relationships, and living in a small community. I like how you described these games as “glamourizing adulthood”, similarly they glamourize emotional and manual labour and yet audiences, including myself, eat it up every time!
The dichotomy you point out between your young supervised self and the freedom of the video game arguably extends beyond that constraints of age. At the end of the day, people are looking for the agency to do what they want to do, not what they have to , and your analysis perfectly encapsulates this.
Finally, I think these kinds of games are interesting to consider in tandem with the concept of the American dream. Self-sufficiency, a loving family, and an established community are pillars of this dream and those games give audiences an opportunity to experience a version of it as the reality disappears.
Hi Emily!
I really enjoyed reading your post! I admire how you talked about your experience with the video game and how it subconsciously impacted the way you viewed adult life. I think this is interesting, as we often miss these subtle underlying themes as kids. Growing up, I would often play similar games, ones with the goal of being successful or being a star. Although when I was a kid, it just seemed like a fun mindless game, looking back, I can see how society is pushing us to believe success is based on fame or monetary value. I really like what you said about friendship. Often, in these games, they show friendships as a transaction, using “currency” to buy friendships. I find it interesting how these games often view friendships as a “collectible prize” rather than focusing on the humanistic value of a relationship. It represents a world in which relationships are easily bought. I think it’s interesting that Turkle’s idea of abandon these objects. We often want to hold on to our childlike curiosity, but I think it’s a powerful thing to let go of these ideals once they stop serving us. I think it’s important we acknowledge when certain objects might be limiting our growth rather than enhancing it. I truly enjoyed hearing about your journey with this game and how you grew from this experience.
EMILYYY YOU STOLE MY VIDEO GAME IDEA (jk you did great).
I think your journey on growing and dealing with social expectations mediated through this game was an interesting take. It reminds me of how in another class where we discuss game studies and theories, we learned about the psychology of games and how it can, indeed, provide a space for teaching social cues and environments while also providing a space for healing and reflection. Video games can indeed be a mediating object to provide us with certain skills. I really liked that you brought up Sherry Turkle’s quote from the Critical Terms book regarding virtual avatars as a means of expressing oneself. I also brought this up in my own evocative object post regarding game controllers and how the controller itself is the mediating object between self, our body, and the avatar in-game.
Thanks for a fun read!