Introduction to Game Studies: Games in Culture Chapter 1: Introduction - What is Game Studies? © Frans Mäyrä & SAGE Publications

Introduction to Game Studies Game Studies is a new academic field of study, focusing particularly on digital games. Introduction to Game Studies: a textbook with eight chapters, introducing the history of digital games as well as the related key concepts and research approaches. The companion website:

Three-Partite Division: Objects of Study Aim: to gain an overall picture of games in culture through an intersection of perspectives: 1.study of games 2.study of players 3.study of the contexts of the previous two. Mutually interacting and complementary views, all informed by historical processes.

Figure 1: The Focus of Game Studies Image credits: Frans Mäyrä

Diversity of Games Not all games are the same - thus the same concepts do not necessarily fit them all. Some diverse examples:  Go - a Chinese board game  Dungeons & Dragons - a classic fantasy role playing game  Solitaire - a popular family of single-player card games  Grand Theft Auto III - a contemporary, complex video game

Academic Study and Games Academic work and game playing are often seen as opposites. Deep down, games and research share many features in common. Successful game playing involves creating, testing and revising strategies to overcome the challenges of a game. Success in academic studies similarly involves facing multiple challenges, learning skills, building hypotheses and testing them.

Short History of Game Studies Currently, Game Studies is an emerging academic discipline, as well as a multidisciplinary field of study. Characterised by games being its central subject matter; in practice subfields are already emerging:  analysis of digital games, study of game players, game play experience and study of game design. The professionals have their background in various disciplines:  literary, film or media studies, in communication research, sociology, psychology, computer science etc.

The Origins of Game Studies (1) Classics of history and ethnography; Stewart Culin, Games of The North American Indians (1907), Harold James Ruthven Murray, History of Chess (1913). Design of war games for military education: an early form of Game Studies in the eighteenth century Germany. In 1950s the East Coast War Games Council were formed in the USA. Published proceedings from the presentations in the Council’s meetings in 1960s. Expanded and transformed into National Gaming Council, then into North American Simulation and Gaming Association (NASAGA) and into the international association ISAGA in 1970, also when Simulation & Gaming journal was established.

The Origins of Game Studies (2) Another American group has focused on study of play since This was named the Association for the Study of Play (TASP) in Regularly publishes proceedings from the annual meetings. Journals: Play and Culture ( ), Journal of Play Theory and Research ( ), Play and Culture Studies (1998-).

The Origins of Game Studies (3) The study of hypertext and hypermedia has roots in the 1940s (Vannevar Bush & ‘Memex’) and 1960s (Ted Nelson coined the terms). In the 1980s rising interest in hypertext led to the first academic conferences, as well as commercial systems (e.g. the HyperCard application by Apple). In 1997 Espen Aarseth published Cybertext, and Janet Murray Hamlet on the Holodeck. These two books function as symbols of alternate views on the so-called ‘ludology vs. narratology debate’.

Ludology as Modern Game Studies Modelling the concept after ‘narratology’, Gonzalo Frasca (1999) proposed ‘ludology’ as a concept to refer to the ‘yet non-existent “discipline that studies game and play activities”’. An early example: Jesper Juul’s MA thesis ‘A Clash Between Game and Narrative’ (1999). Online, peer-reviewed journal Game Studies established in 2001, called ‘Computer Game Studies, Year One’ by Espen Aarseth. Series of conferences, followed by the establishment of the Digital Games Research Association (DiGRA) in 2003.

Identity for Game Studies The early debate centred on whether the main focus on academic study of games should be on games’ storytelling or interactive potential. Both views currently appear valid, depending on what kind of games are being discussed. Identity is often produced by drawing boundaries and excluding ‘right’ from ‘wrong’. Fruitful opportunities for interdisciplinary and international dialogue have emerged, as Game Studies continues to construct its identity.

Links Digital Games Research Association - DiGRA: DiGRA conferences: International Simulation & Gaming Association – ISAGA: Game Studies Journal: Games and Culture Journal: Journal of Game Development: Digiplay Initiative: Game Research website:

Orientation Assignment: Personal Game History Construct a map of your personal history among games and play. Write a text where you describe your personal relation to games and playing: highlights, key phases, or an account trying to explain your relation to games. Share and jointly discuss your summaries.