Not woke, slightly woke or woke? How do you like your games?
The world is a cruel and dangerous place. Around every corner, there could be a climate activist, a non-binary person, or a strong woman waiting to ambush you. Of course, it's only logical to escape into imaginary worlds – but wait, what's that? Body types 1 and 2 instead of male and female? Different skin tones? A RAINBOW FLAG?
The absurd panic about rainbow flags and empowering women
Relax. You don't have to endure this horror anymore, thanks to the perfect solution: the official Woke-Ranking List by the Woke Content Detector Steam Group. Worried parents who feared their messed-up Fortnite-tantrum throwing kids might encounter any form of diversity, climate change deniers, and gamers with worrisome political views can now breathe a sigh of relief.
Just one look at this fantastic 76-page list and you can make sure you never accidentally run into an empowered woman or an overweight diver in your games again. And no, sadly, this is not some kind of satire.
The list categorizes over 1,500 games as "not woke," "slightly woke," or "woke," each with a written justification. These justifications are far-reaching – games fare particularly poorly if they lack a clear division between male and female body types, feature women in any kind of superior role, represent diverse skin tones, or, the ultimate nightmare, allow same-sex relationships and interactions.
But that's not all: climate activism, rainbow imagery, overweight character models, characters with disabilities or mobility devices like wheelchairs, and even characters with vitiligo are all flagged as problematic.
Diversity in games is not a problem, but a strength
For me, the main question is: Are there really people who are so triggered by a rainbow flag on a train in Train Sim World, a woman who can fight dinosaurs despite being a woman, or a character who deals with depression that they have to check this list before buying a game? Where's the fun in that? I can happily play as a humanoid lizard who shoots lightning from his scaly hands and rides a giant deer through the wilderness, but heaven forbid I decide to romance a same-sex iguana.
I don't get it. Isn't the beauty of gaming that anything is possible? That includes representation. A bright green orc isn't a problem, but a black half elf is? A raccoon in a wheelchair is too "woke"? Do you even hear yourselves speak? Apparently not. In my opinion, this list should be nothing more than a joke. Or maybe I'm just too woke myself.