Why are we drawn to video games where we have to complete tasks that, in real life, may be unappealing or boring? Here are four games that show how the mundane can be made extraordinary and surreal.
I’m a game design researcher focused on creating systems that allow games to be played by anyone. There cannot be a better example of that than The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.
Vampire Survivors won Best Game at the 2023 awards.
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In its simulation of real world living, without real world limits, The Sims offers players the chance to embody characters that represent their true selves.
Game jams are powerful spaces for galvanizing creativity in disenfranchised communities.
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Game making is an art form that many aren’t intimately familiar with. Unlike other creative practices, game makers must create the rules and laws that govern and shape player behaviours.
Users explore metaverse platforms, like Decentraland, here pictured, with customised avatars.
Eibriel | Wikimedia
While China has taken steps to rein in the playing of video games among students during the school week, a U.S. scholar makes the case for why the games should be featured more prominently in school.
‘Ako: A Tale of Loyalty’ takes players inside a young samurai’s world in 18th-century Japan.
Epoch: History Games Initiative/University of Texas at Austin
A history professor describes how student-designed video games have transformed his classroom and provided a substitute for academic essays.
Google’s Stadia will be available through the Google Chrome web browser, on smartphones, smart televisions, tablets, and through Chromecast.
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Google’s Stadia and Apple Arcade will rattle the gaming world this year. Both aim to solve current limitations, but as user experience improves, issues around connectivity and cost arise.
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Netflix
As Netflix plans additional choose-your-own-adventure TV movies, a game designer explains how they’re made and the long history of audience-directed fiction.