Are video games only a waste of time, or can they share in what Tolkien called sub-creation? Dr. Andrew Snyder (professor of philosophy and theology) reads his essay “Video Games as Sub-Creation” and rethinks an old prejudice through On Fairy-Stories.

This Mythic Mind episode asks what happens when play builds secondary worlds with the materials of the primary one: enchantment, truth in fiction, and why “made up” is a poor synonym for false. Elder Scrolls games (Morrowind, Oblivion, Skyrim) show up as a lived example of open-world mythmaking.

Topics include Tolkien’s sub-creation, games as more than diversion, and the line between idle escape and formative enchantment.