This book is an introduction to game studies, written in an approachable way that outlines useful perspectives that readers can use to interrogate games as a primary text. It provides the reader with a toolset that can 'level up' their own critical perspectives.

The book is organized around several evaluative lenses, each supported with case studies. These lenses approach the analysis of games from different perspectives, outlining some of the important foundational work from game studies and other relevant disciplines, and then relating it widely across a corpus of modern titles. The book cover video games, roleplaying games and board-games, along with digressions into other more obscure areas such as LARPs, Mega-Games, and Non-Games. Each of the main areas calls back to how each of the evaluative lenses of the book could be used to illuminate intersections of medium and theoretical perspectives. The provided case studies then offer deeper dives into titles of particular significance.

This book will be suitable for students in games-related courses at multiple levels of the curriculum, game critics, and those that simply want to develop more interesting and nuanced opinions on games.

About the Author

Dr Michael James Heron is Associate Professor in Games at the School of Computer Science and Engineering in Gothenburg, Sweden, and program administrator for the Game Design and Technology program. Michael is also the author of Tabletop Game Accessibility: Meeple Centred Design and A Case Study in Computer Ethics in Context: The Scandal in Academia, both available through CRC Press.

Book Information
ISBN 9781032868578
Author Michael Heron
Format Paperback
Page Count 336
Imprint CRC Press
Publisher Taylor & Francis Ltd