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Authors:Michał Kłosiński; Agata Zarzycka Abstract: Games and Culture, Ahead of Print. This article presents research on the digital game representations of trains, stations, and railways from the perspective of the biopolitical theory. We aimed to analyze and depict different elements of life governance mediated by games that use rail ... Citation: Games and Culture PubDate: 2025-06-27T03:14:50Z DOI: 10.1177/15554120251353555
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Authors:Taina Myöhänen; Heikki Tyni, Olli Sotamaa17840Tampere University, Tampere, Finland Abstract: Games and Culture, Ahead of Print. This study explores the emotional dimensions of data work within the game industry. Through interviews with Finnish game industry professionals, the research reveals that data-driven work practices evoke a wide range of emotions, ranging from pleasure and ... Citation: Games and Culture PubDate: 2025-06-16T08:02:48Z DOI: 10.1177/15554120251349872
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Authors:Jacqueline Burgess; Elina Roinoti, Alexander Muscat, Anthony Grace, Christian Jones Abstract: Games and Culture, Ahead of Print. This article compares small (19 employees or fewer) video game developers’ commercial and creative mindsets in three marginal video game industries, Australia, New Zealand, and Greece, to understand how these industries differ. Semi-structured interviews ... Citation: Games and Culture PubDate: 2025-06-16T07:59:48Z DOI: 10.1177/15554120251349312
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Authors:Karl van Heerden156410Digital Culture; Media program, School of Arts at the University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa Abstract: Games and Culture, Ahead of Print. I explore gaymers’ use of virtual photography to construct their avatar persona inFinal Fantasy XIV Online. The study of game photography is a field that has seen relatively sparse engagement from scholars in the past decade. In this article, I discuss ... Citation: Games and Culture PubDate: 2025-06-09T07:25:24Z DOI: 10.1177/15554120251346824
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Authors:Charlotte Gislam; Garry Crawford, Gaynor Bagnall, Victoria Gosling, Neta Yodovich7046The University of Salford Abstract: Games and Culture, Ahead of Print. After years on the fringe of our cultural and social life, video games are becoming more recognized as legitimate and culturally valuable. This paper examines the process of their legitimation through the role of ‘cultural intermediaries’, who frame video ... Citation: Games and Culture PubDate: 2025-06-04T07:45:05Z DOI: 10.1177/15554120251341621
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Authors:Daniel Nielsen37740Charles University; Institute for Communication Studies Journalism, Prague, Czech Republic Abstract: Games and Culture, Ahead of Print. InWorld of Warcraft (WOW), thousands of players work together to analyze the game's rules and maximize their rewards. Organized boosting—a paid player service—is widely seen as undermining the meritocratic ideal that ties rewards to effort and skill. ... Citation: Games and Culture PubDate: 2025-05-27T08:17:32Z DOI: 10.1177/15554120251345644
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Authors:Sara Skott; Karl-Fredrik Skott Bengtson, Michael Fiddler Abstract: Games and Culture, Ahead of Print. Drawing on critical frameworks in criminology, including Popular Criminology and Ghost Criminology, this paper aims to explore howBloodborneoffers a critical reflection of the haunting nature of the harms inflicted by humans in the age of the ... Citation: Games and Culture PubDate: 2025-05-19T10:52:13Z DOI: 10.1177/15554120251342104
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Authors:Javier García-Álvarez; Jesús Acevedo-Borrega116759University of Extremadura, Caceres, Spain Abstract: Games and Culture, Ahead of Print. On the 15th anniversary of Minecraft's release (2009), this systematic review of 106 articles has been conducted to outline the scientific production of the past decade regarding the use of Minecraft in education. Among the most notable findings is the ... Citation: Games and Culture PubDate: 2025-05-15T07:38:28Z DOI: 10.1177/15554120251341034
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Authors:Katherine J. E. Hewett; Bethanie C. Pletcher1College of Education Human Development, Texas A&M University – Corpus Christi, Corpus Christi, TX, USA Abstract: Games and Culture, Ahead of Print. The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) found that women accounted for 46% of U.S. gamers in 2024. However, women players (especially girl players) remain an under-researched demographic in game studies. The aim of this qualitative case study was to ... Citation: Games and Culture PubDate: 2025-05-13T07:26:03Z DOI: 10.1177/15554120251339519
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Authors:Tomasz Gnat1Faculty of Humanities; 313160University of Silesia in Katowice, Sosnowiec, Poland Abstract: Games and Culture, Ahead of Print. This paper explores the concept of ruins in interactive entertainment, focusing on games that become ruins due to abandonment, technological decay, or other processes unique to digital media. A comparative analysis of physical and digital ruins, their ... Citation: Games and Culture PubDate: 2025-04-29T12:36:33Z DOI: 10.1177/15554120251338557
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Authors:Mengli Yu; Yichen Guo, Wenhan Shen, Rong Chen Abstract: Games and Culture, Ahead of Print. This study investigates cultural reception dynamics in video games within Genshin Impact, a Chinese-inspired gaming environment. Addressing the research gap in understanding how interactive systems influence cultural reception, we conducted semi-... Citation: Games and Culture PubDate: 2025-04-24T07:56:56Z DOI: 10.1177/15554120251336564
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Authors:James CartlidgeInstitute of Philosophy; 87171Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, Bratislava Region, Slovakia Abstract: Games and Culture, Ahead of Print. This article offers a political reading of Mossmouth'sUFO 50, a collection of 50 retro-style games that evoke the aesthetics and design principles of 1980s gaming. Drawing on Frederic Jameson's concepts of the ‘nostalgia mode’ and the ‘utopian impulse’, ... Citation: Games and Culture PubDate: 2025-04-10T02:08:57Z DOI: 10.1177/15554120251329701
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Authors:Jaroslav Švelch; Jan Houška1Faculty of Social Sciences, 37740Charles University, Prague, Czechia Abstract: Games and Culture, Ahead of Print. In recent years, semi-peripheral industries have produced numerous video games that use local settings but aim at a global audience. We explore this trend using five cases of commercially released Czech indie games that feature local themes and settings. ... Citation: Games and Culture PubDate: 2025-03-20T06:29:25Z DOI: 10.1177/15554120251322265
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Authors:Ronit Kampf; Iolie Nicolaidou Abstract: Games and Culture, Ahead of Print. This study examines the impact of players’ gender and nationality on game performance before and during the Israel-Hamas war. The study focuses on two games for social impact revolving around intractable conflicts: PeaceMaker (Israeli-Palestinian conflict)... Citation: Games and Culture PubDate: 2025-03-18T10:02:19Z DOI: 10.1177/15554120251327701
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Authors:Torill Elvira Mortensen1Faculty of Social Sciences; 1786Nord University, Bodø, Norway Abstract: Games and Culture, Ahead of Print. Adult women are often considered to be technologically challenged and not playful, traits that make them less interesting for game designers and scholars. They are commonly expected to have quiet and productive hobbies, engage in gender-stereotypically ... Citation: Games and Culture PubDate: 2025-03-14T11:45:15Z DOI: 10.1177/15554120251324957
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Authors:Juan Francisco Torres-Díaz; Joel Feliu, Adriana Gil-Juárez Abstract: Games and Culture, Ahead of Print. This article synthesizes qualitative evidence from ethnographies within video game development companies. A best-fit framework synthesis was conducted, combining the strengths of framework and thematic analysis to interpret the results of 55 ethnographic ... Citation: Games and Culture PubDate: 2025-03-14T11:44:16Z DOI: 10.1177/15554120251323334
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Authors:Patrycja Klimas, Joanna Radomska, Dawid Kościewicz, Gabriela Strzelec, Sylwia Wrona; Joanna Radomska, Dawid Kościewicz, Gabriela Strzelec, Sylwia Wrona Abstract: Games and Culture, Ahead of Print. This article explores the specifics of cross-sector cooperation within the Cultural and Creative Industries (CCI) from the perspective of the Video Game Industry Ecosystem (VGIE) based on integrating desk research (utilising a systematic literature review of 61 papers) and field research (through a focused group interview with ten experts representing mainly the actors from VGIE). Our two-step parallel study identifies key drivers and barriers in establishing such cooperation, highlights three coordination mechanisms essential during its execution (static-adaptive management, proximity, and knowledge management), and uncovers a significant research gap regarding the ending phase of such cooperation, despite our FGI revealing relevant factors contributing to its termination or dormancy. This work offers a theoretical contribution to the existing knowledge by synthesising and expanding the understanding of cross-industry cooperation between the VGIE and other CCIs. Moreover, it highlights significant research gaps, particularly in the final phase of cross-industry cooperation. Citation: Games and Culture PubDate: 2025-02-27T08:33:43Z DOI: 10.1177/15554120251317276
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Authors:Xan Smith; 1771Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA Abstract: Games and Culture, Ahead of Print. Virtual spaces and video games offer a unique opportunity for nonbinary and gender-diverse users to embody and express a gender that is congruent with their identity. The aim of this study was to better understand character creation, avatar identification, and virtual gender expression for nonbinary players, who's gender does not typically align with traditional male/female binary avatar options. Twenty-five nonbinary video game players participated in exploratory semistructured interviews. A grounded theory approach was used to thematically analyze the transcribed data. Nonbinary players use avatars to explore and experience nonbinary gender expressions. When nonbinary gender options are not available, players describe methods for circumventing in-game features and norms. Participants express negative experiences due to gender choice constraints. Lastly, participants suggest features that would allow for a gender expression that is congruent to their own gender. These findings have important implications for improving the wellbeing of nonbinary and gender-diverse players. Citation: Games and Culture PubDate: 2025-02-26T06:22:31Z DOI: 10.1177/15554120251322209
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Authors:Anahita Khorshidpour; 12965Nagoya University, Nagoya, Aichi, Japan Abstract: Games and Culture, Ahead of Print. This article examines two videogames to uncover their anti-imperial and decolonial qualities. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (2015) and Death Stranding (2019) created by the Japanese videogame designer Hideo Kojima express commentaries on American politics and their effects on the United States and the rest of the world. Kojima has used Herman Melville's Moby-Dick (1851/1999), a narrative account critiquing American imperialism, as an anchor to extend his own critique of American foreign policies as an outsider affected by US global hegemony. The similarities among the two games and Melville's Moby-Dick run much deeper than what the player sees, and the internal complexities of each narrative surpass the single layer of international politics. The political themes of each game complement and continue the political themes found in Moby-Dick. Both videogames affirm a decolonizing worldview by invalidating American imperial politics and encouraging global players to do the same. Citation: Games and Culture PubDate: 2025-02-19T06:29:14Z DOI: 10.1177/15554120251321694
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Authors:Thomas Montefiore, Paul Formosa; Paul Formosa1Department of Philosophy, 7788Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia Abstract: Games and Culture, Ahead of Print. Much of the philosophical discussion of video game ethics is dominated by the literature on the Gamer's Dilemma, which forces us to focus on the ethics of certain forms of extreme virtual content in video games, such as virtual murder or molestation. While a focus on the ethics of video game content is important, we argue that scrutinizing the ethics of video game systems is needed to properly capture the full range of ethical concerns raised by video games. Drawing on a distinction between intravirtual and extravirtual effects, we identify ethical issues with video game content and, by linking to the dark patterns literature, video game systems. To illustrate our view, we give examples of how a game can appear to have morally objectionable content without the game being, at least clearly, morally objectionable, and how a game can appear to be morally unobjectionable despite having morally objectionable systems. Citation: Games and Culture PubDate: 2025-02-14T06:43:25Z DOI: 10.1177/15554120251319173
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Authors:Ian Williams; 2331University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA Abstract: Games and Culture, Ahead of Print. This article is a qualitative study of work and play in the miniatures wargames industry. It was conducted over 5 weeks in Nottingham, UK and consists of 26 semi-structured interviews with freelance workers and employees of two studios, Mantic Games and Warlord Games. Interviews concentrate on worker motivation, encounters with history through games, and the role of gender in miniatures wargames. Key findings reveal that sector workers see their work as a more honest form of craft than that found at Games Workshop, publishers of the Warhammer series of games, and that sector workers engage in hybrid forms of work-play through their professions. Lastly, it locates what Paul Gilroy calls postcolonial melancholia in design practices. Citation: Games and Culture PubDate: 2025-02-13T08:18:37Z DOI: 10.1177/15554120251318884
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Authors:J. Patrick Williams, Mark R. Johnson, Vinay Kumar; Mark R. Johnson, Vinay Kumar Abstract: Games and Culture, Ahead of Print. Esports-relevant expertise extends beyond gameplay to encompass the cultivation of knowledge, skills, networks, and resources that support competitive success. Using a grounded theory approach and insights from 33 interviews with esports players in an emerging ecosystem, this study develops a sociocultural model that identifies four interrelated dimensions shaping expertise development, while paying special attention to the challenges players face. Cultures represent the layered structures of meanings, values, and norms that influence practices within and around esports. Social relations highlight families, schools, peers, and other social actors that support and/or inhibit gaming pursuits. Minds address social-psychological dispositions, mindsets, and the interpersonal dynamics that impact expertise. Finally, resources foreground how finances, space, time, and emotions enable or constrain players’ growth. Together, these dimensions reveal the multifaceted and interconnected ecology surrounding esports-relevant expertise development. The article highlights the value of an inductive approach for generating new and novel insights, and offers a valuable framework for understanding the sociocultural factors influencing esports-relevant expertise. Citation: Games and Culture PubDate: 2025-02-10T06:44:25Z DOI: 10.1177/15554120251319176
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Authors:Marcin Łączyński, Tomasz Gackowski, Michał Gołębiowski; Tomasz Gackowski, Michał Gołębiowski1Faculty of Journalism, Information Book Studies, University of Warsaw, Poland Abstract: Games and Culture, Ahead of Print. This paper presents a research project oriented on the qualitative and quantitative analysis of puzzles present in the modern-day (published after 2015) puzzle-oriented gamebooks (i.e., Journal 29) and book escape rooms (i.e., Cypher Files). The research presented included two stages. The qualitative stage aimed to apply the concepts from the fields of ludology and interaction design to interpret the play experience in selected gamebooks. This part resulted in research notes describing the interaction process with each puzzle in analyzed gamebooks. The result of the analysis of those notes is the proposition of the typology of riddles and puzzles present in those books and a general reflection on the puzzle-solving process structure. In the second part of the project, we intended to apply the typology to address research questions of a quantitative nature related to puzzle uniqueness, dissemination of particular puzzle types, and similarity of design practice between authors. Citation: Games and Culture PubDate: 2025-02-05T08:25:29Z DOI: 10.1177/15554120251315518
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Authors:Tanya Krzywinska, Douglas Brown, Minhua Ma, Anton Belinskiy, Kam Bhui; Douglas Brown, Minhua Ma, Anton Belinskiy, Kam Bhui Abstract: Games and Culture, Ahead of Print. The “Cozy” game has gained traction as a concept in contemporary game culture as a set of formal generic features. While we examine the way that Cozy Games are often now defined as a genre, we demonstrate that “coziness in games” has widespread formal and engagement functions and can be experienced in a whole range of games, not simply those defined by the Cozy genre. In focusing on the player–text relationship, and in using a literary model, we seek to widen the discourse and range of meanings of coziness in, as well as of, games. This approach enables us to think about our own lived experience of playing games in terms of the generation of affect, as well as opening the way for renewed analysis of representation, ideology, and cognition. Citation: Games and Culture PubDate: 2025-01-09T01:04:47Z DOI: 10.1177/15554120241310920
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Authors:Zihan Feng; 8024Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY, USA Abstract: Games and Culture, Ahead of Print. While there has been extensive academic discussion on the definition of games, very few studies have explored how similar concepts are expressed in languages other than English. In this paper, I investigate the etymology of the Chinese term YouXi, a Chinese term regarded as the equivalent of “game.” Firstly, I discuss the possible origins, evolution, usages, and inherent aesthetics and values of YouXi. Secondly, I contrast YouXi with “game” and reveal that YouXi reflects a unified understanding of game and play. In addition, I argue that in terms of ontological differences, “game” highlights rule-based interaction and player competition, whereas YouXi emphasizes the sense of immersion and safety. Finally, I integrate these findings with existing game studies to propose a definition of YouXi as the experimental exploration of alternative life experiences and further suggest interpreting game and play through this perspective. Citation: Games and Culture PubDate: 2025-01-03T05:26:20Z DOI: 10.1177/15554120241308948
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Authors:Mikael D. Sebag; University of California, Irvine, CA, USA Abstract: Games and Culture, Ahead of Print. Game scholars have critiqued ludic magic systems for their rational, quantifiable, and wonderless nature. Yet, despite the magic system's prevalence in modern games, the field of game studies lacks a formal theoretical framework to analyze how these systems—and the framing fictions they inhabit—go about articulating a sense of enchantment to players. To address this gap, this article proposes a novel method for close-reading ludic magic systems based on Antoine Faivre's “definition of enchantment” from the field of Western esotericism. The article describes examples of Faivre's four esoteric qualities—correspondences, living nature, imagination and mediations, and experience of transmutation—as they appear across twelve different games. These examples illustrate how the logics of premodern enchantment, which underlie ludic representations of magic, can evoke awe and wonder in the player by providing alternative ways to knowing and being in fantasy gameworlds. Citation: Games and Culture PubDate: 2025-01-02T05:13:28Z DOI: 10.1177/15554120241310925
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Authors:Óliver Pérez-Latorre; Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain Abstract: Games and Culture, Ahead of Print. The Secret of Monkey Island (Lucasfilm Games, 1990) is an iconic reference in video game history and popular (digital) culture. The nostalgic fandom and the recent release of Return to Monkey Island (Terrible Toybox, 2022) evidence the impact of the game and how it has endured over time. This article proposes a retrospective analysis of the “structures of feeling” around Monkey Island, Lucasfilm Games, and their humorous puzzles, focusing on their relationships with the social incorporation of PCs and the neoliberal discourse of the late twentieth century, postmodern culture, and the debates around the cultural legitimation/delegitimization of video games. The article applies Affect Theory, as Anable has adapted it to the study of video games, with some specificities and particular emphasis: a retrospective approach, focus on game mechanics (their historical-cultural signification), and attention to paratexts (reviews of game criticism, Ron Gilbert's blog, a book aimed at fans). Citation: Games and Culture PubDate: 2025-01-02T05:13:00Z DOI: 10.1177/15554120241306796
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