Critical Play

Critical Play
Author :
Publisher : MIT Press
Total Pages : 363
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9780262518659
ISBN-13 : 0262518651
Rating : 4/5 (59 Downloads)

Book Synopsis Critical Play by : Mary Flanagan

Download or read book Critical Play written by Mary Flanagan and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2013-02-08 with total page 363 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An examination of subversive games like The Sims—games designed for political, aesthetic, and social critique. For many players, games are entertainment, diversion, relaxation, fantasy. But what if certain games were something more than this, providing not only outlets for entertainment but a means for creative expression, instruments for conceptual thinking, or tools for social change? In Critical Play, artist and game designer Mary Flanagan examines alternative games—games that challenge the accepted norms embedded within the gaming industry—and argues that games designed by artists and activists are reshaping everyday game culture. Flanagan provides a lively historical context for critical play through twentieth-century art movements, connecting subversive game design to subversive art: her examples of “playing house” include Dadaist puppet shows and The Sims. She looks at artists’ alternative computer-based games and explores games for change, considering the way activist concerns—including worldwide poverty and AIDS—can be incorporated into game design. Arguing that this kind of conscious practice—which now constitutes the avant-garde of the computer game medium—can inspire new working methods for designers, Flanagan offers a model for designing that will encourage the subversion of popular gaming tropes through new styles of game making, and proposes a theory of alternate game design that focuses on the reworking of contemporary popular game practices.


Critical Play Related Books

Critical Play
Language: en
Pages: 363
Authors: Mary Flanagan
Categories: Computers
Type: BOOK - Published: 2013-02-08 - Publisher: MIT Press

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

An examination of subversive games like The Sims—games designed for political, aesthetic, and social critique. For many players, games are entertainment, dive
Critical Play
Language: en
Pages: 363
Authors: Mary Flanagan
Categories: Computers
Type: BOOK - Published: 2009-08-07 - Publisher: MIT Press

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

An examination of subversive games like The Sims—games designed for political, aesthetic, and social critique. For many players, games are entertainment, dive
Critical Play
Language: en
Pages: 363
Authors: Mary Flanagan
Categories: Art and popular culture
Type: BOOK - Published: 2009 - Publisher: MIT Press

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

An examination of subversive games--games designed for political, aesthetic, and social critique.
Out of Play
Language: en
Pages: 244
Authors: Michael A. Messner
Categories: Social Science
Type: BOOK - Published: 2010-03-25 - Publisher: State University of New York Press

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

A revealing look at gender issues in contemporary sport.
The Play Versus Story Divide in Game Studies
Language: en
Pages: 207
Authors: Matthew Wilhelm Kapell
Categories: Games & Activities
Type: BOOK - Published: 2015-11-16 - Publisher: McFarland

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Since the emergence of digital game studies, a number of debates have engaged scholars. The debate between ludic (play) and narrative (story) paradigms remains