Beyond the French touch : the contestataire moment in French adventure digital games (1984-1990)

This article attempts to suggest a revision of the historical aesthetic category frequently called the "French Touch". Proving that this category has become blurred nowadays, the author suggests a more nuanced approach to French digital game history. The article focuses on games that matched the contestataire moment in the history of France. Instead of producing science fiction and fantasy themes, three examined development circles (Froggy Software, Cobra Soft and François Coulon), active at a similar time, followed journalist Guy Delcourt's advice to make games rooted in the current reality. Their adventure games, inventive both formally and in terms of the topics covered, responded vividly to sociopolitical events. Froggy Software, led by Jean-Louis Le Breton, directly captured the May 1968 countercultural spirit. Cobra Soft, directed by Bertrand Brocard, took a revisionist approach to World War II and its aftermath. Finally, François Coulon experimented with ludic means of expression while focusing on the parody of contemporary events. Thus, the creative output of these development circles shows that the French digital game field escapes the categorization attributed to the concept of "French Touch".