Rationalizing Play: A Critical Theory of Digital Gaming

Rationalizing Play: A Critical Theory of Digital Gaming

This article constructs a new framework for the study of games as sites of social rationalization, applying Feenberg’s critical theory of technology. We begin by making the case for a consideration of games as systems of social rationality, akin to other modern systems such as capitalist markets and bureaucratic organizations. We then present a conceptualization of play as a process through whi...

Situated Play and Mobile Gaming

There is no other play than situated play. A game becomes situated via play activities. Without playing we have the mechanics of a game, the elements and the relations, the roles and the rules. Situated play emerges within playing when the skeleton becomes alive, the role becomes a person, and the abstract game system becomes a concrete unrepeatable gaming experience. For mobile games having pe...

Big Huggin': Affection gaming for alternative play

Big Huggin‘ is an alternative interface game designed to critique the way we play. It is offered as part of the ongoing Critical Gameplay project. Instead of firing toy guns or gesturing abstractly, players must hug a large stuffed animal to win the game. The game has been played by more than 2000 people at 8 venues in North America, South America and Europe.

Ambient Gaming and Play: Opportunities and Challenges

During the workshop on Ambient Gaming (AmGam’11) at the International Conference on Ambient Intelligence in Amsterdam, 16-18 November 2011, 17 participants from 8 different countries discussed emerging research topics around Ambient Gaming. With ambient games and play we denote playful activities that are seamlessly integrated within our daily lives in such a way that the boundaries between oth...

Productive Gaming: The Case for Historiographic Play