Content:
Read chapters 3 (“What Is a Game?”) from Understanding Video Games. This chapter approaches, in both philosophical and pragmatic ways, how we define games, and how that affects our consideration of video games as a whole.
Play Alba: A Wilderness Adventure (Links to an external site.). This game, as with many of the others we’ll play during the course of the semester, is a relatively lengthy narrative game that will require you to plan and pace yourself in order to finish on time. Alba will likely two-and-a-half to three-and-a-half hours to complete (Links to an external site.). You should plan on being finished in advance of your initial discussion post by Tuesday night.
Read Ian Bogost’s “Video Games Are Better Without Stories” (Links to an external site.) in the Atlantic. Quick note: do your very best to disregard the title of this article. As with most online publications, the author of the article rarely writes the title, and titles themselves are often written as provocations. The body of the text is a bit more nuanced. Notably, Bogost spends a lot of time discussing What Remains of Edith Finch, a game which I wanted to include in this class. Unfortunately, technical accessibility (it’s not available for Macs) forced me to exclude it from the course. The article should take you about 20 minutes or so to read.
Read Patrick Klepek’s response to Bogost’s polemic, “Video Games Don’t Have a Choice But to Tell Stories”. (Links to an external site.)It’s about a 15 minute read.
Introduction
As described on the syllabus, you are responsible for writing and submitting three short writing assignments over the course of the semester. I have provided you with 750-word writing assignments to choose from, allowing you to experiment with different kinds of writing. You must complete three of the four options. They are as follows:
An essay about your first encounter with a video game. This is a narrative essay. Perhaps your first experience with a video game was watching a parent or older sibling play Mario Kart. Maybe your first video game experience was playing Flappy Bird on your mobile phone. Whatever it was, this is a chance to consider it in detail. When recounting the experience, use concrete details to help us imagine your experience. What did you see, hear, and feel? What was the setting of this experience? And, of course, how did the experience affect you?
A review of a recent (2010 or later) video game not on the syllabus. This is, or can be, a relatively complicated writing assignment. For instance, a review of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (2017) is going to look very different than a review of Slither.io (2016). This is further complicated by the relatively short word count for the assignment (750 words). So, choose your game wisely. If you do choose a a much longer game like Breath of the Wild, focus on a small part of the game for your review. For example, you might discuss how, in Breath of the Wild, your weapons are impermanent, and will break after a period of use. Whatever you choose, make sure to make an argument about the game, and to support that argument with evidence from the game (including but not limited to narrative, visual representations, sound, gaming mechanics, etc.).
An interview with someone not in the class about a video game on the syllabus. This assignment requires that you find someone outside of the course who has played a game on our syllabus or, more likely, to introduce someone to one of the games on the syllabus. After doing so, your task is interview the individual, creating compelling questions and documenting the answers. Consider the formal structure of interviews that you have read elsewhere. What makes them successful? Note, also, that with a 750-word limit, you may not be able to record everything said in your interview. Focus, then, on the most compelling moments in your exchange. It will be in your best interest to record the conversation so you can transcribe the results for this assignment.
Analyze a video game using the “MDA model” discussed in Understanding Video Games. For this writing prompt, you must analyze a video game using three formal distinctions developed by Robin Hunicke, Marc LeBlanc, and Robert Zubek. If you choose this assignment, you will want to read this short article (Links to an external site.) (4.5 pages) and review its summary in Understanding Video Games (pgs. 50-52). After reading, you can select and analyze any video game using the MDA model, assessing the game in terms of its mechanics, dynamics, and aesthetics. Because of the 750-word limit, addressing each of the three categories with concision is essential.
GAMES on Syllabus
Video Games
Our primary texts will include a variety of video games. Some will be available to play online for free in your browser. Many will require purchase via Steam, itch.io, GOG, or another online service. Here are a list of the games that you will be required to purchase for this course:
>>ustwo games: Alba: A Wildlife Adventure (Links to an external site.) (PC/Mac/Switch/PS4/Xbox/iOS)
>>Rocket Adrift: Raptor Boyfriend: A High School Romance (Links to an external site.) (PC/Mac) / No Longer Home?
>>Jump Over the Age: In Other Waters (Links to an external site.) (PC/Mac/Switch)
>>Infinite Fall: Night in the Woods (Links to an external site.) (PC/Mac/PS4/Switch/Xbox One)
>>General Interactive Co: Chinatown Detective Agency (Links to an external site.) (PC/Mac/Switch)
and either (you get to choose)
>>Thunder Lotus Games: Spiritfarer (Links to an external site.) (PC/Mac/PS4/Switch/Xbox One)
or
>>Pixpil: Eastward (Links to an external site.)(PC/Mac/Switch)
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