At Least I Get to Be the Cow
Searching for Peace with Mario Kart World's Breakout Star

I cannot possibly explain how it feels to play Mario Kart World at the same time that you’re reading a post about nuclear-capable bomber jets being deployed to Iran. The human brain doesn’t feel like it was made to process both of these extremes at once. My heart certainly isn’t.. And yet situations like these are the confounding, debilitating, and soul-crushing circumstances under which I have repeatedly found myself turning to my Switch 2 and trying to enjoy the latest Mario Kart game, where, at the very least, I get to play as a cow.
Just weeks ago I was in the backyard of an Airbnb in Los Angeles, surrounded by esteemed peers and colleagues who were getting shitfaced and enjoying each other’s company after a long day of work, when I propped up my freshly acquired Switch 2 for a local multiplayer session. A handful of us came together around the console as it sat on a pool cover, and for 15 or 20 minutes we basked in the glow of the new system, this brilliant little game, and each other. On the other side of the city, not far from where we had just spent a day playing upcoming titles, a deployment of National Guard troops were being sent in to break and maim the people of Los Angeles. In the days to come, anxieties would rise parallel to the number of cops in downtown LA. But at least I got to be the cow.
Once I was home from the trip, I settled back into the rhythm of everyday life, or at least tried to. Every day brought with it some new horror, and all the while I sat at this keyboard and tried to write something about video games and their profundity. About my belief in them. But before long, my president launched an unconstitutional—and, more crucially, evil—attack, one that stands to stoke further division and war. That very night, my friends and I played Mario Kart World to ease the dread. We may not have much, we may not have the power to change the world, but we have each other. And at least when we rally together to play Mario Kart World, I get to be the cow.