Description

Book Synopsis
An examination of subversive games like The Sims—games designed for political, aesthetic, and social critique.

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-bas

Critical Play Radical Game Design The MIT Press

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    A Paperback by Mary Flanagan

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      View other formats and editions of Critical Play Radical Game Design The MIT Press by Mary Flanagan

      Publisher: MIT Press
      Publication Date: 2/8/2013 12:00:00 AM
      ISBN13: 9780262518659, 978-0262518659
      ISBN10: 0262518651
      Also in:
      Computing Computer games design Computer games: strategy guides Games development and programming

      Description

      Book Synopsis
      An examination of subversive games like The Sims—games designed for political, aesthetic, and social critique.

      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-bas

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