"Age of Empires is like ayahuasca" - German Book Prize Winner '23 Tonio Schachinger: Echtzeitalter

I would like to share with you a short excerpt from the book "Echtzeitalter" by Tonio Schachinger, the winner of the german book prize 2023. I was very impressed by how the author writes about computer games and thought that it might interest you and you could relate. (german text in comments)

GTA is like drinking beer. It relaxes you after a few minutes, disinhibits you when you do nothing else all day. Everyone knows it and almost everyone likes it, but its wikrungsweise is not aimed at ecstasy, but at recognizing the openness of their own everyday life. "Red Dead Redemption, which Till likes at least as much, is like smoking pot. It extends the duration of any action, it bores you and at the same time ensures that you can no longer feel boredom, allows you to focus completely on a single aspect of the world.
Age of Empires is like ayahuasca. To get to the point where it takes full effect, you have to have been into it for a long time, fasting and preparing your trip, but once you're hooked, you don't want anything else.
If Till's mother knew that computer games are never about violence, but always about immersion, and if she related this knowledge to how she feels about immersing herself in a work of art, in a Haneke film or a Handel oratorio, then she might be able to understand why Till is drawn to something that guarantees him every evening what art can only achieve in its best moments. The only thing that would remain unclear is whether this knowledge would change her attitude toward computer games for the better or for the worse, because just as with drugs, it's not their disadvantages that are dangerous, but their advantages: that they help you forget and endure life.