Editorial: Ten Years of Press Start

Editorial for the May 2024 issue

Fleshthetics of the Postcolonial Body: Examining Contested Identities in the Works of Studio Oleomingus

Through a holistic analysis of the games by Studio Oleomingus, the paper will explore the concept of ‘Fleshthetics’, examining how the postcolonial body/Flesh is a palimpsest and collage of both lived experience(s) and intergenerational phantom histories. The games we have chosen are The Uncertain Repetitions of Truth, A Museum of Dubious Splendors, In the Pause Between the Ringing, The Indifferent Wonder of an Edible Place, and Folds of a Separation. The Flesh is not simply rooted in materiality, but is a symptom of a condition, an assemblage (of identities), an absent-present body. In Studio Oleomingus’s games, the postcolonial body/Flesh is, thereby, inherently Plastic. Influenced by discourses enveloping it, the Flesh manifests itself and its Plasticity in a non-linear spatiotemporality. By playing and analysing the games, this paper shows how the blended style of play accentuates the fragmented existence of the postcolonial Flesh. As such, this paper forms only an introduction into the larger domain of Fleshthetics, unearthing untapped potential that can be harvested through further work beyond the simple constraints of media, genre and academic discipline

Review: Who Are You? Nintendo’s Game Boy Advance Platform

Review: Who Are You? Nintendo’s Game Boy Advance Platform, by Alex Custodio. 2020. MIT Press. ix + 270 pp

“The Playful Postcolonial: Culturing Videogames in India” Special Issue Editorial

“The Playful Postcolonial: Culturing Videogames in India” Special Issue Editoria

Lost Again: Refractive Nostalgia and Video Games

In tackling chronophobia, which Svetlana Boym (2001) defines as the anxiety of deciding how to use our time meaningfully as it depletes, video games become purposeful spaces where we can revisit the things we have lost, or what we anticipate will be lost with time. As such, video games are ideal tools that help us retreat from chronophobia. However, following Boym, I argue that this “does not help us to deal with the future” (2001, p. 351). To revisit or experience what is already “lost” with time through games, players must lose more time and resources in the present to pursue it. This circular use of nostalgia may leave players with chronophobia and in a state of feeling “lost again.” This paper presents three case studies where nostalgic players have “found” something generative for their present and future, rather than feeling “lost again.” This original solution to chronophobia combines Boym’s work, game studies, and nostalgia research, amounting to my contribution of what I call “refractive nostalgia.

Review: Une histoire du jeu vidéo en France, 1960-1991 : des labos aux chambres d’ados

Review: Une histoire du jeu vidéo en France, 1960-1991 : des labos aux chambres d’ados, by Alexis Blanchet and Guillaume Montagnon. 2020. Pix’n Love. 447 pp

Curating a Boardgames Museum in India: The Case of the Gautam Sen Memorial Boardgames Museum; An Interview with Souvik Mukherjee and Amrita Sen

Indian scholars and boardgames museum curators Souvik Mukherjee and Amrita Sen speak with Zahra Rizvi and Souvik Kar about the Gautam Sen Memorial Boardgames Museum. This interview delves into the conception, creation, and curation of the museum, before launching into a deeper discussion pertaining to the geopolitical dimensions of studying and curating boardgames in India. Mukherjee and Sen shed light on the past, present, and future of boardgames and play in India and the Global South

If Only I Had Someone to Play With: Sociality in Single Player Board Games

Since 2004, the tabletop board game market has seen a surge in solo compatibility. COVID-19 restricted multiplayer board gaming, attracting new players to the world of solo play. Despite that, games research has somewhat overlooked explanations as to why solo board gaming is a growing phenomenon. This paper takes a multidisciplinary approach, considering scoresheets, gaming capital, and chores, to examine whether sociality exists in solo board games. The importance of sociality in solo board games is also brought into question, highlighting benefits and flaws of group presence, including negative effects of social influence. Motivations of solo players are explored through a questionnaire and session report, presenting three themes: social reasons, genre preferences, and playstyle choices. Conclusions drawn provide practical applications for tabletop designers, outlining how they can more effectively approach the design of solo games or solo variants

A Place to Survive: OMORI Through Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory

This research delves into the narrative of the role-playing game OMORI (OMOCAT, 2020). We use Urie Bronfenbrenner’s (1979) ecological systems theory as an analytical framework to investigate character portrayal and development. Our study employed descriptive and interpretive qualitative methods and used a three-phased approach to scrutinise OMORI’s narrative, expound and dissect character portrayals within their broader contexts, and note important character developments throughout the game. Our findings highlight the substantial influence of immediate and non-immediate external environments—family dynamics, societal norms, and cultural elements—on the development of the primary characters within OMORI’s narrative. More specifically, this paper emphasises the roles of culture, capitalism, and religion within the game. The study’s significance lies in its presentation of interconnected relationships among the systems posited by Bronfenbrenner. We offer insights for further research studying games through their socio-historical contexts and scrutinising characters’ backstories. This is particularly relevant where it has been theorised that youth in advanced capitalist societies might be swayed by cultural values that affect their well-being and life contentment (Butler, 2021)

Review: Homebrew Gaming and the Beginnings of Vernacular Digitality

Review: Homebrew Gaming and the Beginnings of Vernacular Digitality, by Melanie Swalwell. 2021. The MIT Press. xvi + 256 pp