Ulteriori informazioni
This book explores both the capabilities and limitations of overtly political board games to model systems and make arguments. Holland draws connections to computer games, literature, theatre, television, music, film, and her own life, framing board games as an achingly human art form, albeit one still growing into its full potential.
Sommario
AcknowledgementsAuthor Biography01. Stories and Systems02. Mechanical MetaphorsSystems and Synthesis
Little Sisters and Cellar Doors
The Stones of
TurncoatsThe Hidden Models of Computer Games
System Knowledge is System Mastery
Cognitive Loads
Primitive Polemics
03. The Paper Time MachineHistory of Professional Wargaming
Avalon Hill and the Birth of Commercial Wargaming
Jim Dunnigan and the Paper Time Machine
Mechanical Complexity in Wargames
04. Wargaming as TechniqueGames as Arguments
Kubrick's Two Golden Eagles
The Wargaming of
RootObjectivity in Modeling
Complicity is Required for Systemic Modeling
05. Immersion and IdentityIdentities
Roles as Empty Avatars
Roles as Opportunities for Exploration
Roles in Historical Games
Detail and Texture
My Favorite Story
06. Agency and ViewpointA Thing That Happens To You
Pax Porfiriana and
Pax PamirViewpoint and Horror in
MeltwaterOrdinary Complicity and Fancy Hats
Complicity in
John CompanyEthical Considerations of Immersion
07. Alienation and DistanceLimits of Immersion
Too Close To The Gears
The Verfremdungseffekt
The V-Effect in
Mother CourageMedia Literacy
Nonhierarchical Art and the Monoform
Alienation in Board Games
08. This Guilty LandThe Concept
Modeling Civility and Compromise
Modeling a Broken Legislature
Distancing Players From Roles
Working Against Texture
Working Against Flow
Emotional Texture
Limits of Alienation
09. Challenges and HopesUseful Doubts
Ethical Challenges
Practical Challenges
Political Art is a Custard Pie
The Future
Index
Info autore
Amabel Holland is a board game designer, developer, and publisher, and in those capacities is responsible for over a hundred board games. Much of her work is experimental, concerned either with the potential of games as political art, or with the nature of games as cultural artifacts. According to the New Yorker, she is "widely considered one of today's most innovative game designers." She's not so sure about that, but she'll take it. A lifelong resident of the Detroit area, in her free time she creates video essays about games and their potential.
Riassunto
This book explores both the capabilities and limitations of overtly political board games to model systems and make arguments. Holland draws connections to computer games, literature, theatre, television, music, film, and her own life, framing board games as an achingly human art form, albeit one still growing into its full potential.
