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124262 KO Critical Media Analysis (2023S)
"It's just a game"? - Critical Approaches to Narrative Indie Games
Continuous assessment of course work
Labels
Registration/Deregistration
Note: The time of your registration within the registration period has no effect on the allocation of places (no first come, first served).
- Registration is open from Mo 13.02.2023 00:00 to Tu 21.02.2023 12:00
- Registration is open from We 01.03.2023 12:00 to Mo 13.03.2023 12:00
- Deregistration possible until Fr 31.03.2023 23:59
Details
max. 30 participants
Language: English
Lecturers
Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N
- Friday 10.03. 12:15 - 13:45 Helene-Richter-Saal UniCampus Hof 8 3G-EG-21
- Friday 17.03. 12:15 - 13:45 Helene-Richter-Saal UniCampus Hof 8 3G-EG-21
- Friday 24.03. 12:15 - 13:45 Helene-Richter-Saal UniCampus Hof 8 3G-EG-21
- Friday 31.03. 12:15 - 13:45 Helene-Richter-Saal UniCampus Hof 8 3G-EG-21
- Friday 21.04. 12:15 - 13:45 Helene-Richter-Saal UniCampus Hof 8 3G-EG-21
- Friday 28.04. 12:15 - 13:45 Helene-Richter-Saal UniCampus Hof 8 3G-EG-21
- Friday 05.05. 12:15 - 13:45 Helene-Richter-Saal UniCampus Hof 8 3G-EG-21
- Friday 12.05. 12:15 - 13:45 Helene-Richter-Saal UniCampus Hof 8 3G-EG-21
- Friday 19.05. 12:15 - 13:45 Helene-Richter-Saal UniCampus Hof 8 3G-EG-21
- Friday 26.05. 12:15 - 13:45 Helene-Richter-Saal UniCampus Hof 8 3G-EG-21
- Friday 02.06. 12:15 - 13:45 Helene-Richter-Saal UniCampus Hof 8 3G-EG-21
- Friday 09.06. 12:15 - 13:45 Helene-Richter-Saal UniCampus Hof 8 3G-EG-21
- Friday 16.06. 12:15 - 13:45 Helene-Richter-Saal UniCampus Hof 8 3G-EG-21
- Friday 23.06. 12:15 - 13:45 Helene-Richter-Saal UniCampus Hof 8 3G-EG-21
- Friday 30.06. 12:15 - 13:45 Helene-Richter-Saal UniCampus Hof 8 3G-EG-21
Information
Aims, contents and method of the course
The interdisciplinary field of game studies is a rather recent development. One of its early modern questions “do videogames tell stories?” is largely met with puzzlement nowadays given the breadth of narrative-driven titles in the last two decades. More intriguing inquiries would be how videogames create meaning and transport beliefs and values, how they might influence individuals and online communities (as well as vice versa), and how we can interpret their narratives through their interactive, multimodal nature.These are some of the questions we will be dealing with in this course by close-reading free and inexpensive videogames outside the AAA mainstream. We will be looking at the content, context and formal qualities of ‘narrative indie games’ – defined here as games that are independent in a financial, aesthetic and/or cultural sense created by small teams or single developers to express personal experiences or political visions.It is not necessary to have prior play experiences with videogames or to own expensive hardware but bringing a laptop to class is highly advised.Students will get to know methods to put their play experiences into writing, train their understanding of the narrative and persuasive means of videogames, and develop the analytical skills to close-read selected titles through cultural studies perspectives.
Assessment and permitted materials
regular attendance (max. two absences), in-class and preparatory participation (Moodle tasks), group presentation, creative task, critical essay
Minimum requirements and assessment criteria
participation (20 points)
group presentation (25 points)
creative task (25 points)
critical essay (30 points)Grading scale:
1: 90-100 points
2: 80-89 points
3: 70-79 points
4: 60-69 points
5: 0-59 points
group presentation (25 points)
creative task (25 points)
critical essay (30 points)Grading scale:
1: 90-100 points
2: 80-89 points
3: 70-79 points
4: 60-69 points
5: 0-59 points
Examination topics
There will be no written exam.
Reading list
All readings will be made available on Moodle and will include (sections from):• Anthropy, Anna, and Naomi Clark. A Game Design Vocabulary: Exploring the Foundational Principles behind Good Game Design. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Addison-Wesley, 2014.
• Bogost, Ian. Persuasive Games: The Expressive Power of Videogames. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2007.
• Dovey, Jon, and Helen W. Kennedy. Game Cultures: Computer Games as New Media. New York, NY: Open University Press, 2006.
• Fernández-Vara, Clara. Introduction to Game Analysis. New York: Routledge, 2015.
• Gray, Kishonna L., and David J. Leonard, eds. Woke Gaming: Digital Challenges to Oppression and Social Injustice. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2018. Print.
• Fron, Janine et. al. “The Hegemony of Play.” DiGRA '07 - Proceedings of the 2007 DiGRA International Conference: Situated Play. 2007: 309-318.
• Payne, Matthew Thomas, and Nina Huntemann, eds. How to Play Video Games. New York: New York University Press, 2019. Print.In addition, there will be a ludography of free and inexpensive videogames that you are expected to engage with, including titles such as Hair Nah (Momo Pixel 2017), Hard Lads (Yang 2020), Where the Goats Are (Memory of God 2017), and You Are Jeff Bezos (Lorischild 2018).
• Bogost, Ian. Persuasive Games: The Expressive Power of Videogames. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2007.
• Dovey, Jon, and Helen W. Kennedy. Game Cultures: Computer Games as New Media. New York, NY: Open University Press, 2006.
• Fernández-Vara, Clara. Introduction to Game Analysis. New York: Routledge, 2015.
• Gray, Kishonna L., and David J. Leonard, eds. Woke Gaming: Digital Challenges to Oppression and Social Injustice. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2018. Print.
• Fron, Janine et. al. “The Hegemony of Play.” DiGRA '07 - Proceedings of the 2007 DiGRA International Conference: Situated Play. 2007: 309-318.
• Payne, Matthew Thomas, and Nina Huntemann, eds. How to Play Video Games. New York: New York University Press, 2019. Print.In addition, there will be a ludography of free and inexpensive videogames that you are expected to engage with, including titles such as Hair Nah (Momo Pixel 2017), Hard Lads (Yang 2020), Where the Goats Are (Memory of God 2017), and You Are Jeff Bezos (Lorischild 2018).
Association in the course directory
Studium: BA 612, BEd 046/407
Code/Modul: BA07.3; BEd 08a.2, BEd 08b.1
Lehrinhalt: 12-4260
Code/Modul: BA07.3; BEd 08a.2, BEd 08b.1
Lehrinhalt: 12-4260
Last modified: Fr 10.03.2023 19:48