[JANUARY] Critical Play by Mary Flanagan

[Liz England]

Hope you guys enjoyed the holidays (for those who celebrate)!

This month's reading will be Critical Play: Radical Game Design by Mary Flanagan.

For many players, games are entertainment, diversion, relaxation, fantasy. But what if certain games were something more than this, providing not only outlets for entertainment but a means for creative expression, instruments for conceptual thinking, or tools for social change? In Critical Play, artist and game designer Mary Flanagan examines alternative games—games that challenge the accepted norms embedded within the gaming industry—and argues that games designed by artists and activists are reshaping everyday game culture.

 

Flanagan provides a lively historical context for critical play through twentieth-century art movements, connecting subversive game design to subversive art: her examples of “playing house” include Dadaist puppet shows and The Sims. She looks at artists’ alternative computer-based games and explores games for change, considering the way activist concerns—including worldwide poverty and AIDS—can be incorporated into game design. 

 

Arguing that this kind of conscious practice—which now constitutes the avant-garde of the computer game medium—can inspire new working methods for designers, Flanagan offers a model for designing that will encourage the subversion of popular gaming tropes through new styles of game making, and proposes a theory of alternate game design that focuses on the reworking of contemporary popular game practices.

https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/critical-play

I picked this book because it has a wonderful historical breakdown of board games, sports, and various types of 'play' that predate the games industry (but obviously doesn't stop there). From my browsing it seems very much an arts, culture, and history book about alternative games as well as how they fit within modern arts movements.

The book was written in 2009 so it'll be interesting to note how much the landscape has (or hasn't) changed as many of these "alternative" games have grown in popularity and visibility over the last few years.

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Additionally... this year I am making a change to the Game Design Book Club. I'm doing away with votes and instead I will choose and announce reading each month.

The reasons are mainly that in trying to get a collection of books on the same topic to vote on, I end up including books I haven't vetted thoroughly and end up disappointing or too off topic. The other reason is selfish: I initially started the group when I had a lot more free time and reading 3-4 books a month. Now that my time is much more limited, I'd like to pick a book I can be sure that I will be interested in and able to read on time so I can contribute to discussions.

If there's a particular book you want to see us read, just email me and I'll consider it!

[Ben Schiffler]

Thanks so much for running this group! Super excited to join this book club, and to read Critical Play, it looks really promising.

[Edgar Cebolledo]

Since the rules are changing, could you choose the book a few days before the end of the month? I prefer to own a physical book, and amazon sometimes takes a few days to arrive, so in some cases I start reading the book around the tenth of the month. Thanks.

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[Owen Nelson]

I, for one, welcome our book choosing overlord.

[Liz England]

Yeah, I definitely think I can do that! Previously I'd get the vote up about ~5 days before the end of the month, so instead I'll announce the next month's book by that time instead of waiting til the 1st. (This month came in a little hot due to holiday distractions).

And thanks to everyone for the nice words!