Making Games - The Politics and Poetics of Game Creation Tools

An argument that production tools shape the aesthetics and political economy of games as an expressive medium.

In Making Games, Stefan Werning considers the role of tools (primarily but not exclusively software), their design affordances, and the role they play as sociotechnical actors. Drawing on a wide variety of case studies, Werning argues that production tools shape the aesthetics and political economy of games as an expressive medium. He frames game-making as a (meta)game in itself and shows that tools, like games, have their own "procedural rhetoric" and should not always be conceived simply in terms of optimization and best practices.

List of contents

On Thinking Playfully
Introduction
Chapter I: Making Sense of Tools
Chapter II: Tool Essays: From Tool Fandom and Aesthetic Ecosystems to the Evolution of Tool Affordances
Chapter III: A Call for Evocative Tool Design: Game Creation as...
Acknowledgements
Notes
References
Index

About the author

Stefan Werning is Associate Professor for Digital Media and Game Studies at Utrecht University. He has worked in the digital games industry, most notably at Codemasters and Nintendo of Europe.

Summary

An argument that production tools shape the aesthetics and political economy of games as an expressive medium.

In Making Games, Stefan Werning considers the role of tools (primarily but not exclusively software), their design affordances, and the role they play as sociotechnical actors. Drawing on a wide variety of case studies, Werning argues that production tools shape the aesthetics and political economy of games as an expressive medium. He frames game-making as a (meta)game in itself and shows that tools, like games, have their own "procedural rhetoric" and should not always be conceived simply in terms of optimization and best practices.

Product details

• Authors: Stefan Werning, Werning Stefan
• Publisher: The MIT Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 28.02.2021
• EAN: 9780262044837
• ISBN: 978-0-262-04483-7
• No. of pages: 176
• Dimensions: 145 mm x 211 mm x 14 mm
• Series: Playful Thinking
• Subjects: Natural sciences, medicine, IT, technology > IT, data processing > General, dictionaries; Social sciences, law, business > Sociology; COMPUTERS / Software Development & Engineering / General, COMPUTERS / Programming / Games, Information technology: general issues, Computer programming / software engineering, GAMES & ACTIVITIES / Video & Mobile, Computer games / online games: strategy guides, Games development and programming