This section of the course offers an overview of some key concepts in videogame studies, such as “play,” “game”, and “narrative.”
Wednesday, January 17 (Week 1)
- Introductions
- What is fun? What is play? What are games? What are videogames?
Friday, January 19
- Roger Caillois, selections from Man, Play, and Games (1958)
- Download, install, and begin playing Portal (Available on Steam for $9.99 for Macs and PCs)
Monday, January 22 (Week 2)
- David Thomas, “Fun” from Debugging Game History (2016), pp. 143-149
- Jesper Juul, “Playing” from Debugging Game History (2016), pp. 351-358
- Mary Flanagan, “Games as a Medium” from Debugging Game History (2016), pp. 221-228
- Introduction to the Game Logs
Wednesday, January 24
- Jesper Juul, “What is Casual?” from A Casual Revolution: Reinventing Video Games and Their Players (2010), pp. 25-63
- Miguel Sicart, “Mechanics” from Debugging Game History (2016), pp. 297-304
- Marie-Laure Ryan, “Narrative” from Debugging Game History (2016), pp. 335-341
- In Class: Tetric Pit
Friday, January 26
- Henry Jenkins, “Game Design as Narrative Architecture” (2004)
- Game Lab #1 on Portal
Header: Derek Bruff, Potential Energy (2012) via Flickr / BY-NC Creative Commons License