Vulnerability and Play: Exploring the Mundane Ways in Which Games Might Harm Players

The games research community strongly focuses on games as a medium that benefits players, and predominantly views negative effects through the lens of permanent vulnerability. In this paper, we argue that this is a narrow perspective which no longer aligns with how policy makers and other fields view the construct, and limits our research community in how we understand the potential harms of play: First, We deconstruct vulnerability and question who is vulnerable in which context, and then we explore the relationship between vulnerability, game design, and mundane types of harm. We conclude with challenges and opportunities for our community.