Power-ups, plots, and pot: weed in popular video games
Lighting up and playing video games describes the perfect night for many. The breezy but focused mood created by many cannabis strains and products is ideal for honing in on the controller. This relationship goes so deep that there is weed in video games now. Themes, scenes, and missions in best-selling games commonly feature cannabis now. Those who already love to play may not be surprised by these pot references, but newcomers might.
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Life Is Strange
Square Enix released a series of supernatural adventure video games called Life Is Strange, with each installment featuring weed themes. One of the most obvious is The Pot Farm in episode three of Life is Strange 2.
Someone at the studio knew what they were talking about because the explorable location is set in Humboldt County. The plant is also a part of the first game when the main character, Chloe, gets in trouble for having weed. Cannabis is regularly a part of Life is Strange game themes as characters embody youth and rebellion.
Overwatch
In Overwatch, the gas canister is the most prominent inhalation reference–and nobody has stated that it isn’t weed. The multiplayer shooter was created by Blizzard Games and follows heroes through various missions.
One of the heroes is named Roadhog, who has an ability called “Take a Breather,” an act where he inhales from a canister during battle to self-heal in the event of low life. The game states that the canister is filled with a gas called Hogdrogen, but the real ones are pretty sure it refers to pot.
Grand Theft Auto V
Those familiar with this famed game are probably unsurprised about cannabis and other vices prominently displayed in the themes and challenges. In Grand Theft Auto V, the world included dispensaries that players could visit. There is even a mission called “Grass Roots,” where the protagonist hallucinates due to a hit of cannabis, and another that covers legalization activism.
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Final Fantasy VII
Unlike Overwatch, the weed reference in Final Fantasy VII works against those who ingest it. Loco Weed is a substance that can confuse opponents in battle. In the real world, the term refers to livestock feed with a specific bacteria that is toxic to the animals. With confusion and the word weed present, we’re comfortable saying this might be another video game cannabis reference and not a shoutout to livestock bacterium.
The Last of Us Part II
Before it was a hit show, The Last of Us was a beloved game with an admitted imbalance between how much you play and how many cutscenes you watch. Few complained, though, as even the game is revered as cinematic with an engaging plot.
Early in the sequel, main characters Ellie and Dina find a cannabis grow operation underground. The pair hide out together, finding solace among the girls and passing a blunt that Dina rates a seven out of ten. As the characters bond at this moment, they’re living an experience had by many–until, of course, a Cordyceps fungus continues ravaging their world.
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Cannabis references in popular video games
Weed and video games have a longstanding relationship in and out of gameplay. Smoking a bowl or rolling a joint before starting the game is a beloved pastime, and slowly, the plant has made its way into the games themselves. As cannabis permeates more facets of culture, it’s only a matter of time before the stigma is completely abolished.
