Platforms and Texts, Rules and Play: Teaching game design and game analysis

During our previous work on games and meaning we have noted the strategic advantages of drawing a distinction between claims about ‘meaning’ and claims about ‘interpretation’ (Carr and Puff, 2019). One way to summarise this would be to think of ‘meaning’ as a noun that exists somehow, somewhere ‘in the game’, and interpretation as a verb – something that is done by somebody, somewhere, during some form of playful entanglement with a game. In this presentation we reflect on the usefulness of this distinction for addressing some of the challenges that arise when teaching game design and game analysis

Windows to Another Time: Experiences of Temporal Alterity and Audiovisual Media. A Venture in Media Culture Theory with Case Analyses in Film, Television Series and Video Game

This essay explores the relationship between temporal alterity and audiovisual media, building on case analyses of select works in film, television series and video game. Sketching a notion of audiovisual windows and starting, among others, from Deleuze’s idea of cinematic time crystals, the paper designs a media culture theory of temporal alterity that is split between alienation (aesthetic experience of time) and absorption (anaesthetic experience of time). Central to this venture is an attempt to outline six fundamental forms of temporal otherness in audiovisual media while, on a thematic level, the ultimate quest for the absolute other of human time leads to imaginations of celestial phenomena like astral or angelic time and instruments of intertemporal communication like time portals

Towards Sovereign Games

Video games can be dynamic sovereign spaces for Indigenous representation and expression when the self-determination of Indigenous people is supported. Where games are concerned, self-determination involves the autonomy and right of Indigenous people to make key decisions regarding the process of how a game is developed as well as what that game entails. A game is sovereign when self-determination is a respected practice throughout all phases of development from conceptualization to distribution. In what ways can games be sovereign and what challenges may be faced? Utilizing comparative case studies of the self-determined games Lost Memories, Terra Nova, and When Rivers Were Trails, this research identifies possible approaches and challenges for sovereign games looking at development as well as the resulting designs.Peer reviewe

Designscape – A Suggested Game Design Prototyping Process Tool

In this work the prototyping process of game design is analysed and a model, the designscape, is suggested. The analysis is based on empirical data consisting of interviews with game designers; at leading positions in ten game companies and at two educational programs focusing on game design. The prime perspective presented as basis for the model is rhetoric in relation to the prototyping process. The intended value of the designscape is to provide deepened information and knowledge about the design process.

Local content game: The preferred choice for mobile learning space

Two studies to find out Malaysian students’ preferences towards learning using mobile space are conducted.This first study is a survey gathered from 591 secondary school students, age 13 to 17 years old.The main objective of the survey is to acquire relevant data to support a mobile gamebased learning (mGBL) development.The outcome of this survey indicates that almost 60% of the students prefer mobile phone as the chosen platform for game-based learning rather than other devices.Further finding suggests that, in order to provide successful learning environment for students; both entertainment and education values should be embraced, suggesting mGBL as the possible solution.Also, 83% stated that they preferred local designed characters with local culture based contents.Next, the second study determines what types of game characters appeal to the students. From this, two points are concluded, which are (i) local, appealing and well-developed characters are important elements to motivate students and (ii) local uniqueness must always be incorporated to increase mGBL acceptance

Playtime for Punctum: Augmented Role-Play

Using a technology stack - stereoscopic camera, hand tracking, and VR - a combination of live video feed and virtual elements are integrated into a mixed reality experience featuring a player and a performer. The mix of live video with virtual augmentation allows access to expressive capabilities sharing affordances with games, performance, and role-playing. The production, called Playtime for Punctum, was realized by applying a research-creation methodology inspired by theatrical devising techniques, particularly improvisation, alongside conventional creative practices. The process was documented with an eye to the shifting roles required by the researcher, and the affordance of this augmented role-play format was explored, documented and analyzed in order to highlight insights that may be useful for future creators in related fields

Transformations and Remembrances in the Digital Game We Sing for Healing

Digital games, with their capacity for expression and facilitating experience through code, design, art, and audio, offer spaces for Indigenous creatives to contribute to Gerald Vizenor’s characterization of survivance as an active sense of Native presence. Indigenous digital games can be acts of survivance both in the ways they are created as well as the resulting designs. We Sing for Healing is an experiment in developing an Indigenous digital game during limited Internet access that resulted in a musical choose-your-own adventure text game with design, art, and code by Anishinaabe, Métis, and Irish game developer Elizabeth LaPensée alongside music by Peguis First Nation mix artist Exquisite Ghost. The non-linear gameplay expresses traditional storytelling patterns while enabling players to poetically travel in, through, and around traditional teachings. The design uses listening, choosing, and revisiting to reinforce what is best described as a non-linear loopular journey