On Playing Thoughtfully
Series: Playful Thinking
How players evoke personal and subjective meanings through a new theory of player response.In The Well-Read Game, Tracy Fullerton and Matthew Farber explore the experiences we have when we play games: not the outcomes of play or the aesthetics of formal game structures but the ephemeral and emotional experiences of being in play. These are the private stories we tell ourselves as we play, the questions we ask, and our reactions to the games intent. These experiences are called readings because they involve so many of the aspects of engaging with literary, cinematic, and other expressive texts. A game that is experienced in such a way can be called well-read, rather than, or as well as, well-played, because of the personal, interpretive nature of that experience and the way in which it relates to our reading of texts of all kinds.The concept of the well-read game exists at the convergence of literary, media, and play theoriesspecifically, the works of Louise Rosenblatts reader-response theory, Brian Uptons situational game theory, Tracy Fullertons playcentric design theory, and Bernie DeKovens well-played game philosophy. Each of these theories, from their own perspective, challenges notions of a separate, objective, or authorial meaning in a text and underscores the richness that arises from the varied responses of readers, who coauthor the meaning of each text through their active engagement with it. When taken together, these theories point to a richer understanding of what a game is and how we might better value our experiences with games to become more thoughtful readers of their essential meanings.
About Artists & Writers:
Tracy Fullerton, an experimental game designer, is Professor and Director of the Game Innovation Lab at the University of Southern California Games Program.Matthew Farber is Associate Professor of Educational Technology and Codirector of the Gaming SEL Lab at the University of Northern Colorado.