Game Studies Watchlist #41
The Game Studies Watchlist newsletter is published weekly on GamesMarkt, curated by Prof Dr Rudolf Inderst. This week with board games, Shadow of the Colossus and more.
– 2 min read
AHOI there, game studies operators!
While I am sitting right here in my lovely tiny hotel room in Neu-Ulm (look it up, it's a 'real' place!), thinking about my promising protein fruit gums with almost no sugar, I came across an interesting contribution called Mechanisms as Metaphors: How Board Games Create Meaningon YouTube by Hollandspiele:
"A core source of meaning for board games are their mechanisms. But those mechanisms are more than just clever toys. They can allow board games to express ideas and emotions, just like any other art form."
Board game studies and digital game studies should be in love. They share so much DNA, yet for a long time they’ve acted like distant cousins at different parties. Both explore systems, mechanics, player interaction, and rules, just expressed through different materials (cardboard vs. code). They both ask: What makes play meaningful? How do rules shape experience? We already see them flirting in hybrid games, digital adaptations, and AR/VR board games. If they “married” (some next level romance!), digital game studies could gain a richer sense of materiality and social presence, while board game studies could benefit from computational and procedural analysis tools.
Any devoted fans of Shadow of the Colossus here? Well, it is never too late to become one! Here's a really great piece: It's an oral history of the game: "Celebrate the 20th anniversary of Team Ico’s masterpiece by looking back with 11 people who worked on it (and three who didn’t)." Better not skip this birthday party!
Joost Vervoort, Associate Professor of Transformative Imagination at the Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University, wrote an interesting piece called Exploring the Sacred Mystery in Video Games:
"There is a real compatibility between games and a non-materialist experience of the world. It is striking how many games use metaphors around energy, spirit, and soul to organize their worlds and gameplay. This energetic visual and mechanical language works for games and seems intuitive to players."
Finally, I habe a little something for my German-speaking readers: The BNE Colloquium Series at the BNE Center Heidelberg invites renowned experts from a wide range of disciplines to the Heidelberg University of Education to explore topics in Education for Sustainable Development. Each lecture is followed by an open space for lively and in-depth discussion. On the 18th of Nov., Lisa König, will give a talk about Zukunft spielen? Games und Didaktik im Kontext von (D)BNE und Schule.
Cheers and stay healthy,
Rudolf
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