Game Essays as Critical Media and Research Praxis

Abstract

The emergence of software programs such as Game Maker, Unity3D, or Twine make it easier and faster to create games. As a result, game scholars and humanities-based theorists who study games have the ability to create games. Game prototyping and critical making is a vital yet understudied practice for digital humanities research. In this paper I explore authoring game essays as part of the scholarly research practice. I argue that these practices are a valuable addition to contemporary humanities research, as they result in the creation of critical media that question games and game culture and the reflexive and situated making practice demystifies the production process. On the one hand, many scholars in the digital humanities are keen to explore the potential of games as educational tools or instruments to collect data, as seen in the explosion of serious games. On the other, a much smaller section of researchers engage with game design as a critical reflexive practice, using critical theory to question, interpret, and deconstruct games as objects within cultural and historical contexts. Drawing from experiences of the Utrecht Game Lab, I engage with game essays as an object and essay creation as a creative critical practice.