The Game Studies Watchlist newsletter, curated by Prof Dr Rudolf Inderst, is published weekly on GamesMarkt. This week's topics include project management as methodology in games, a LucasArts anthology book and more.
AHOI there, game studies operators!
On his channel, The Game Overanalyser is exploring "the stories, themes, design and art of gaming" and I am a vivid guest (and listener). This time, it was time to go back to the basics and refresh my memory about two terms I tend to throw around quite often ...
Emergence and Progression are often seen as two opposing design methodologies that are foundational to games. This video examines the history of this design dichotomy, how theorists have conceptualized the divide , and how it is far more permeable than people might think.
So, yes, I was thinking, that all-too-'familiar' opposition between emergence and progression becomes much less stable once we look at actual play practices rather than abstract design categories. Many contemporary games thrive precisely by staging moments where tightly scripted sequences give way to player-driven unpredictability and vice versa. From this perspective, the dichotomy is less a binary than a productive tension, one that designers actively orchestrate to balance control and openness, guidance and discovery.--I found an interesting article (Anything, Anytime, Anywhere: Semiotic Landscapes, Labour, and Ideology in The Last of Us) from Kate Spowage. It offers a compelling close reading of The Last of Us by shifting attention from narrative and dialogue to the game’s semiotic landscapes and it argues that the dilapidated, post-apocalyptic spaces of the game do more than set the scene. They open up a critical reflection on capitalism, labor, and inequality. While the game’s dialogue often reinforces familiar late-capitalist values, its environments tell a more unsettling story, hinting at exploitation and the uneven realities behind “apocalypse.” By bringing together ideology critique and the study of spatial meaning, the piece makes a strong case for reading videogame worlds as complex, even contradictory sites of cultural expression and suggests a promising new direction for game studies at the intersection with linguistic landscape research. Find it right here.
A particularly exciting opportunity for those working at the intersection of game studies, queer theory, and media psychology: the University of Groningen is currently advertising an interdisciplinary PhD position titled “Putting the Gay in Gaming: How Queer Youth Navigate Identity Development in Online Gaymer Communities” (Deadline: 22nd of April). The project explores how young queer players use online gaming spaces to experiment with identity, find community, and negotiate cultural expectations, while also addressing the tensions of heteronormative gamer culture and exclusion within supposedly inclusive spaces. Methodologically, the PhD combines qualitative approaches such as interviews, discourse analysis, and ethnography, making it especially relevant for scholars interested in interpretive and critical work on games and digital cultures. More info.
A useful addition for anyone teaching or researching in game studies with a methodological focus: Research Methods and Project Management in Games by Pooya Soltani is now available for pre-order. The book positions itself as an interdisciplinary guide that brings together research design, mixed methods, and project management specifically for game development contexts. Covering everything from literature reviews and data analysis to player studies, accessibility, and emerging areas like AI, it offers a structured roadmap for navigating both academic and industry-facing research in games. Particularly appealing is its attempt to bridge creative practice and research workflows—making it relevant not only for students, but also for practitioners looking to formalise their research processes. More info.
German-speaking readers have a new book to look forward to. Together with Manuel Stübecke, I have edited a new volume in the Game Studies series: it is titled This is my Labyrinth, and you are mine. Forever. Die Spiele von LucasArts - eine interdisziplinäre Erforschung des Erbes der klassischen Adventures and brings together a host of fascinating authors and their essays. You can order it here.
And finally ... "Have you ever finished a game and felt… empty? This feeling now has a name and a way to measure it.
Kamil Janowicz, PhD from SWPS University, together with Piotr Klimczyk from the Stefan Batory Academy of Applied Sciences, developed the Post-Game Depression Scale (P-GDS), the first tool designed to capture what players experience after completing highly immersive games. The study “Post-game depression scale – a new measure to capture players' experiences after finishing video games” was published in Current Psychology." (Source: SWPS University) BTW: Released in April 2006 for the GameCube, Odama remains one of Nintendo’s most unusual experiments: a hybrid of feudal warfare and pinball in which players commanded troops via microphone while ricocheting a giant steel ball across the battlefield. It never became a hit, but looking back, it captures a moment when even big publishers were willing to fund ideas that were awkward, ambitious, and unapologetically odd. It is a reminder that innovation in games once meant not just bigger productions, but stranger ones.
P l e a s e support my work in game research & culture, consider contributing via Buy Me a Coffee.
Cheers and stay healthy, Rudolf
