Game Worlds at the Limits and Margins of Games
Leino, O. T., & Möring, S. (2023, June). Game Worlds at the Limits and Margins of Games. In Digital Games Research Association Conference 2023: Limits and Margins of Games.
In this chapter, by drawing on existential philosophy, game studies, and recent work in the philosophy of computer games (Payne 2009; Rusch 2009; 2017; Leino 2009b; 2009a; 2010; 2012; 2013; 2014; Möring 2013; 2014; Möring and Leino 2016; Kania 2015; 2017; Gualeni and Vella 2020; Vella 2021), we critique the current program of existential ludology, the term coined by Payne (2009) and put it forward as method for understanding computer game play, more specifically, play in the worlds of computer games. First, we describe three aspects of ludology, which are problematic in terms of how they frame computer games as objects of study. To broaden the picture of computer games, by highlighting the existential basis of play and games as understood in classical play theory, we propose to look at computer games through the lens of existentialism. This allows reconciling the idea of gameness with the materiality of computer games, and leads us consider computer games as worlds. With the notion of game world, we will explicate several different modes of being in computer games, and argue that playing-in-the-game-world is one way of being in computer games although not the most common one. We conclude by presenting how our method sheds new light on the ontology, hermeneutics, and criticism of computer games and the politics of play, helping to preserve play which has long disappeared from computer games.