Keith Flint, in his Wargames, Soldiers, and Strategy #137 essay on wargaming as an escape (see WSS#137 Let's Escape pp 62-63) offers an interesting perspective covering several topics. Some of his brief thoughts on this topic can be read on his blog at In Which I Became a Global Influencer.
To briefly summarize the escapism portion of Keith's essay, Keith highlights a quote that he has heard from wargamers is that,
Wargaming allows me to escape everyday life, and it allows me to be someone else for a while.
Now, I have never heard anyone utter similar words and if they did, I would take such claim in a figurative and not a literal context.
Given this statement's literal weighting, Keith argues that we should reject the notion of hobby escapism that allows one to step away from everyday stresses, work, or reality. Keith posits that this thinking is misguided since one cannot truly escape the real world. The wargaming hobby is an extension of the real world and an extension of who we are. Framing the hobby as an escape tends to discredit both daily life and the hobby. A more wholesome approach is to view hobby time as a constructive shift between different and complementary aspects of life.
How does this tie back to the Great Wargaming Survey?
In an earlier analysis, I examined the question of why we wargame. In Why We Wargame: A Closer Look, survey results show that when the top three choices are aggregated across all respondents that "Fun and escapism" contributes only about 13% of the top choices. "Fun and escapism" comes in at Rank #5 of 7.  |
| Figure 1 |
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| Figure 2 |
Now, "escapism" is lumped in with "fun" so separating the two is impossible from the 2025 survey. If this question is asked again, perhaps, "fun" and "escapism" ought to be separated to identify those seeking escapism solely?
A related question that examines the role of the hobby as an outlet for stress is present in the 2025 survey. That question asks,
Would you agree that wargaming helps you forget about the stresses of daily life?
The results are overwhelmingly one-sided. Figure 3 illustrates that 62.1% of respondents entirely agree that wargaming helps forget about stresses of daily life. Fully 93% either somewhat agree or entirely agree with this statement.
Rather than looking at the wargaming hobby as a literal escape, perhaps, wargaming ought to be viewed as a relaxing, constructive shift between our different aspects of life? I think Keith would agree. Keith, thank you for offering up some food for thought!
Do you view the hobby as an escape from real life?
Some interesting points raised by Keith and yourself there Jon. I wouldn't see the hobby as pure escapism for me, but I certainly view it as fun in all its apsects, as otherwise, why would I do it? Certainly when I'm playing my solo games I'm 'in the moment' so to speak, so for those few hours I tend to forget about the other demands upon my time etc. But then that was true when I played various sports over the years. I would venture that hobbies are meant by their very nature, to be fun and relaxing, as again why would we do them?
ReplyDeleteThanks, Steve. I agree that hobbies should be fun and relaxing, and not as a way to sidestep reality. As you say, if not, why do it?
DeleteVery interesting idea. Personally I don't. Gaming for me is the fun mental challenge, much like puzzle solving. It's also my top creative outlet. I don't find painting relaxing, but I enjoy the color research and working out complementary schemes fun too. Completing painting a group of figures is especially satisfying to me.
ReplyDeleteI agree that playing a game should offer a stimulating mental puzzle to solve. I design scenarios toward that goal. For me, painting is a relaxing part of the hobby, but I know that not everyone sees it the same. Thanks for your comment!
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