Week 3

Mary Flanagan’s Perspective: Flanagan argues that games go beyond entertainment, serving as platforms for critical engagement where players exercise agency and find meaning through interactions with rules, environments, and narratives. Her perspective highlights the social, political, and cultural dimensions of games, emphasizing their ability to reflect and influence real-world issues. Chris Crawford’s Perspective: Crawford, a game designer, defines games more rigidly as interactive experiences where players make decisions in response to challenges. He emphasizes the interactive nature of games, viewing them as simulations in which player choices directly impact the outcome. Katie Salen & Eric Zimmerman’s Perspective: Salen and Zimmerman define games as structured systems governed by rules that establish goals and outcomes. Their focus is on the structured nature of gameplay, emphasizing the balance of skill and chance in achieving objectives. They see games as frameworks that guide player experiences. Key Differences: The primary distinction among these definitions lies in their focus: Flanagan considers the broader cultural and critical impact of games, Crawford emphasizes interactivity and decision-making, while Salen and Zimmerman concentrate on game structure and mechanics. An activist game is designed to inspire social, political, or cultural change. These games encourage players to critically engage with real-world issues, such as inequality, human rights, and environmental concerns, prompting reflection or action. Activist games often challenge traditional narratives and power structures, using gameplay as a medium for social commentary. Games like checkers and Chess fall under the category of perfect information games, where all players have access to the same knowledge about the game’s state at all times. Other examples include: Checkers: A deterministic game where all moves and positions are visible to both players. Tic-Tac-Toe: A simple example where both players can see the entire board and every move made. Chess: Both players can see where the pieces are and what they do. Chance-based or gambling games have historically been linked to spiritual or religious beliefs. Many ancient cultures viewed these games as a means of interpreting fate, divine will, or omens. The element of randomness in such games was often thought to reflect the influence of gods or spirits, making them tools for decision-making or religious rituals. The tension between games and governing or religious institutions dates back centuries. In Ancient Rome and medieval Europe, certain games were banned due to their associations with gambling or because they were seen as distractions from religious and civic duties. More recently, games like Dungeons & Dragons (which faced backlash in the 1980s) and violent video games such as Grand Theft Auto have been criticized for their perceived moral or social impact. A fox game is a game where players have partial but not complete knowledge of the game state, leading to uncertainty and requiring strategic thinking. Modern examples include: The Mansion of Happiness was an early American board game designed to teach moral and spiritual lessons. Players progressed by making choices aligned with Christian virtues like honesty, kindness, and piety. The game served as a tool for moral instruction, particularly for children. Artists from the Fluxus and Surrealist movements often used games as a way to challenge conventional artistic and societal norms. Surrealists, in particular, believed that games involving chance and randomness could unlock deeper levels of creativity, freeing players from rational constraints. Games provided a space for experimentation with absurdity, symbolism, and the subconscious. Games have been reskinned and repurposed throughout history to reflect different cultural or historical contexts. During World War II, pinball machines were modified to include patriotic or war-related themes. Similarly, Fluxus artists reimagined games like Monopoly and Ping Pong as critical or experimental experiences, subverting traditional values through altered gameplay and aesthetics. By modifying classic games like Monopoly and Ping Pong, Fluxus artists made statements about art, play, and society. Their approach disrupted traditional interpretations of these games, transforming them into tools for creative expression, social critique, and commentary on capitalist values. Artists such as Lilian Ball, Marcel Duchamp, Takako Saito, Yoko Ono, Gabriel Orozco, and Ruth Catlow have used war-themed games to explore themes of conflict, violence, and power dynamics. Through game-based artwork, these artists critique militarism, the human cost of war, and the commercialization of violence, challenging traditional portrayals of warfare in culture. In critical or serious games, player agency—the ability to make meaningful choices that influence the game’s outcome—is essential. A strong sense of agency enables players to engage deeply with the game’s themes, narratives, and mechanics, making the experience more impactful. Without agency, players may feel disconnected from the game’s message, reducing its ability to provoke thought or inspire change.