How often she plays: Nearly daily, from a few minutes to a full 18 hours when engrossed

Games of choice: JPRGs (Japanese role-playing games) for their detailed focus on storytelling – examples include Final Fantasy and Vagrant Story for the way they deal with political strife, hard-hitting dialogue and moving scriptwriting,  scriptwriting, Yakuza for being wonderfully off-kilter and irreverent; and Nier: Automata for its unabashedly philosophical themes, exemplifying the hero’s sacrifice trope by actually allowing you to offer up your entire save data to allow another player to complete the ending of the game

Earliest memory of gaming: “It’s hard to date exactly but I think it was when I was four or five; a Sega Genesis console was sitting on the side of an old gaudy-patterned mattress on the floor, with my cousin and uncle in the middle of a workday backseat gaming on a level of Wolfenstein. The first game I’ve played – which I’ve been incorrectly remembering as El Valentino until very recently, might I add – is El Viento on the Sega Genesis. It’s a 1991 Japanese platformer set in Al Capone’s New York.”

On the appeal of games: “They’re extensions of their creators’ beliefs, ideals and interests, and I find that most fascinating to experience. I think about this analogy by the journalist Jason Schreier often – making a video game is akin to a photographer creating a camera from scratch every single time they want to take a photo. Despite advanced game engines and tools, how do you tangibly put a measure on what’s fun or not? That uncertainty is so grounding, and honestly, it’s a miracle that games are even made at all.”

On how other creative industries can benefit from gaming: “I was designing and running showrooms in Seoul and Paris for Fashion Week at my last job (as a creative director at apparel distributor Selfhood). When the pandemic hit, everyone was in a mad scramble to find ways to show their new collections. This often resulted in clunky virtual showrooms with cumbersome features; their low-poly clothing racks looked like games out of the early Internet era. All this time I was thinking, why didn’t anyone approach any game studios to collaborate? The latter have been perfecting environmental design and immersive experiences for decades… Games draw from many different points of reference, from arts, culture, history and fashion. Them becoming more accessible means more refined conversations and collaborations, as well as a new tool to express ideas and reach out to people.”

Velvet blazer, pants and leather loafers, Prada. Top and all other accessories, Charwin’s own

How often he plays: Once a week since starting school

Games he can’t live without: Dota for its “challenging, teamwork-based design”, and the Y2K icon Maplestory “for its cute 2D visuals and old-school nostalgia”

Earliest memory of gaming: “I think I was six or seven years old and it was one of those free browser games like Battle On. After that, I moved on to MapleStory – a MMROPG or massively multiplayer online role-playing game.”

On the appeal of gaming: “It’s a magical feeling. All sense of time seems to disappear when you’re really in the zone. It’s not just about racking up the levels. It can simply be executing a good play or feeling like you’ve performed well in a team fight. To me, that’s the difference between gaming and life. For example, the progress of my work at school can be very bumpy and inconsistent, despite all the work I’ve put in. However, if one were to game consistently, you would usually see results. I guess gaming provides an avenue for escape from my real-world problems.”

On his gaming persona: “If I’m playing alone, I’m more reserved compared to real life as I’m pretty quiet in person I think. But it really depends on the situation – I’ll respond if gamers are talking to me but I won’t really take the initiative to start talking. In fact, before every game starts in Dota, I usually use the mute function on everyone on my team if I’m playing with random strangers. I’m quite a relaxed person, I just want to do my part without being involved in quarrels or trash-talking, for example. I used to get more riled out but eventually, I made peace with it and tell myself it’s just a game.”

On the evolution of gamers: “When I was in secondary school, people would peg gamers as nerds. These days, I find that even people who don’t game are interested to find out more when you say you’re a gamer. I’ve friends who don’t play Dota, but they would still watch Dota matches – and they’re mainly girls.”

Cotton hoodie, denim jeans, leather belt and sneakers, Balenciaga

How often she plays: Daily for between one and 10 hours

Games of choice: RPGs (role-playing games) such as Genshin Impact and the Pokemon series as she’s into characters and the designed lore. That they’re solo-player games also means that they “don’t intrude into her me-time”

On her gaming nickname: “My gaming nickname is Xuan! It’s essentially just the second half of my Chinese name. I picked it because I didn’t want a name that was hard getting used to, and the Chinese character used for my name is quite unique I believe.”

Earliest memory of gaming: “When I was about six or seven, I would wake up at 7am on Sundays with my older sister before the whole family woke up before church and log on to Neopets to play my favourite game Bouncy Supreme.”

On the game she lives for: The Pokemon series. “I grew up with it so I have a very strong attachment to the game. I think I’ve played almost all of the games of the main series, as well as the side games, except for Pokemon Snap. I nearly quit Pokemon when it moved to the Switch because I didn’t have one and it was expensive, but I gave in when they announced they were releasing Let’s Go, Eevee!. Over time, the main Pokemon games have become much easier to play (probably to reintroduce the new generation of children to it), but the concept still remains the same. It’s very simple. It just makes me so happy.”

On the appeal of gaming: “I’m a person who is really into characters and lore, especially if the genre is fantasy. I like coming up with theories about the unreleased plot and speculating about it with my siblings and friends… Also my handsome video game characters simply do not exist in real life.”

On the future of gaming: “It will become much, much more common. There are more people watching e-sports tournaments now and gamers have more support from sponsors and companies. With the rise of live-streaming (on platforms like Twitch that are popular in the gaming community), gamers are also increasingly becoming influencers. Also, mobile games will be more common than PC or console games. Phones will thus evolve to accommodate them and VR technology will only get better!”

Cotton trench coat and Crocs rubber boots, Balenciaga. All other accessories, Ng’s own

How often she plays: Daily for at least two hours

Games of choice: Tower defence games – in particular Bloons TD6 for its “exceptionally well-thought-out learning curve”

Earliest memory of gaming: Feeding Frenzy or Insaniquarium by PopCap Games

On the appeal of gaming: “I like the feeling of accomplishment after finishing a task in a game; following the learning curve of a game; and simply learning to have more game sense.”

On gaming as her choice of escapism: “It can be done in the comfort of home with or without company. It offers the flexibility of starting or stopping whenever I want and it is comfortable and stimulating all at the same time.”

A misconception about gamers: “That people who game do nothing else, and that they spend their money only on games and don’t take care of themselves.”

On the community spirit among gamers: “I’ve met many friends through games and they’re equally important to me, whether or not I’ve met them in real life. They’re no different from the friends I’ve made through other channels or connections. Gaming is just like any other hobby.”

Lurex cardigan, matching crop top and stockings, and tulle skirt with rhinestones, Prada

How often he plays: Not much, though he gets “rushes” that see him on the same, newfound game for an average of “eight hours every few days”

Earliest memory of gaming: “Nights spent watching my elder brother play the iconic survival-horror game Resident Evil. That left an impression because it was such an eerie mental space to occupy (even as an observer).”

On his gaming nickname: “I don’t have a gaming nickname per se but my Discord username is oneqeightyfour. It’s based off a Haruki Murakami novel of the same name that was referencing George Orwell’s 1984. There’s no cool back story unfortunately but I liked how the pronunciation rolls off the tongue.”

On the game he lives for: “I don’t play favourites but one that I would put high on the list is the first-person shooter game Counter-Strike. I have fond memories as a kid of going around the neighbourhood with friends during Hari Raya on ‘green packet’ collection sprees, only to blow all the money collected at the end of the day on extended hours of playing the game at the LAN shop. I dare say that the game was one of the canon games that cemented gaming at LAN shops as a communal and cultural activity.”

A misconception about gamers: “That we are unproductive members of society who hole ourselves up in our rooms. There’s a need to shift away from this perception and towards a plurality of the gamer image. There are gamers who use games as a platform for creating communities addressing topics such as mental health care; gamers who push game development in tandem with technology; and even those who employ games as art making.”

On how other creative industries can benefit from gaming: “Gaming culture as a phenomenon provides many entry points to understand the realities of contemporary living. This includes thinking of gaming as an avenue for world-building and reality testing; as spaces for communality and making personal connections; and even as a way of understanding new economic models and contemporary ethics. However, we should be discerning of how people or companies approach this. There are those who do not attempt to understand game culture and are trying to get into it simply out of Fomo or to cash in on, co-opt and gentrify gaming.”

Wool sweater (on chair behind Rafi), Coach. All other clothes and accessories, Rafi’s own

Photography Phyllicia Wang Styling Damian Huang Hair & Makeup Sarah Tan Hair & Makeup Assistant Vanessa Leow 

A version of this article first appeared in the March 2022 Liberation edition of FEMALE