{"title":"Playful Thinking Ser","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"play-like-a-feminist-book-shira-chess-9780262044387","title":"Play like a Feminist.","description":"\u003cb\u003eAn important new voice provides an empowering look at why video games need feminism-and why all of us should make space for more play in our lives.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eYou play like a girl\u003c\/i\u003e- It's meant to be an insult, accusing a player of subpar, un-fun playing. If you're a girl, and you grow up, do you \"play like a woman\"-whatever that means?\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e In this provocative and enlightening book, Shira Chess urges us to play like feminists. Playing like a feminist is empowering and disruptive-it exceeds the boundaries of gender yet still advocates for gender equality. Roughly half of all players identify as female, and \"Gamergate\" galvanized many of gaming's disenfranchised voices. Chess argues games are in need of a creative platform-expanding, metaphysical explosion-and feminism can take us there. She reflects on the importance of play, playful protest, and how feminist video games can help us rethink the ways that we tell stories. Feminism needs video games as much as video games need feminism.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Play and games can be powerful. Chess's goal is for all of us-regardless of gender orientation, ethnicity, ability, social class, or stance toward feminism-to spend more time playing as a tool of radical disruption.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":49737951936785,"sku":"NGR9780262044387","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50660656185617,"sku":"CIN0262044382VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51415597842705,"sku":"CIN0262044382G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0262044382.jpg?v=1751446593"},{"product_id":"stuff-games-are-made-of-book-pippin-barr-9780262546119","title":"The Stuff Games Are Made Of","description":"\u003cb\u003eA deep dive into practical game design through playful philosophy and philosophical play.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e What are video games made of? And what can that tell us about what they mean? In \u003ci\u003eThe Stuff Games Are Made Of\u003c\/i\u003e, experimental game maker Pippin Barr explores the materials of video game design. Taking the reader on a deep dive into eight case studies of his own games, Barr illuminates the complex nature of video games and video game design, and the possibilities both offer for exploring ideas big and small.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Through a variety of engaging and approachable examples, Barr shows how every single aspect of a game-whether it is code, graphics, interface, or even time itself-can be designed with and related to the player experience. Barr's experimental approach, with its emphasis on highly specific elements of games, will leave readers armed with intriguing design philosophy, conceptual rigor, and diverse insights into the inner life of video games. Upon finishing this book, readers will be ready to think deeply about the nature of games, to dive into expressive and experimental game design themselves, or simply to play with a new and expanded mindset.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":49745698291985,"sku":"NGR9780262546119","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50100217118993,"sku":"GOR013855251","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51332016636177,"sku":"CIN0262546116VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51769809010961,"sku":"GOR013291362","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0262546116.jpg?v=1751227632"},{"product_id":"mainstreaming-and-game-journalism-book-david-b-nieborg-9780262546287","title":"Mainstreaming and Game Journalism","description":"\u003cb\u003eWhy games are still niche and not mainstream, and how journalism can help them gain cultural credibility.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eMainstreaming and Game Journalism\u003c\/i\u003e addresses both the history and current practice of game journalism, along with the roles writers and industry play in conveying that the medium is a \"mainstream\" form of entertainment. Through interviews with reporters, David B. Nieborg and Maxwell Foxman retrace how the game industry and journalists started a subcultural spiral in the 1980s that continues to this day. Digital play became increasingly exclusionary by appealing to niche audiences, relying on hardcore fans and favoring the male gamer stereotype. At the same time, this culture pushed journalists to the margins, leaving them toiling to find freelance gigs and deeply ambivalent about their profession.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eMainstreaming and Game Journalism\u003c\/i\u003e also examines the bumpy process of what we think of as \"mainstreaming.\" The authors argue that it encompasses three overlapping factors. First, for games to become mainstream, they need to become more ubiquitous through broader media coverage. Second, an increase in ludic literacy, or how-to play games, determines whether that greater visibility translates into accessibility. Third, the mainstreaming of games must gain cultural legitimacy. The fact that games are more visible does little if only a few people take them seriously or deem them worthy of attention. Ultimately, \u003ci\u003eMainstreaming and Game Journalism\u003c\/i\u003e provocatively questions whether games ever will-or even should-gain widespread cultural acceptance.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":49745729683729,"sku":"NGR9780262546287","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49789901635857,"sku":"GOR013785420","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ LIKE_NEW \/ SBYB","offer_id":52885659517201,"sku":"CIN0262546280LN","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0262546280.jpg?v=1751005486"},{"product_id":"run-and-jump-book-peter-d-mcdonald-9780262547390","title":"Run and Jump","description":"\u003cb\u003eHow abstract design decisions in 2D platform games create rich worlds of meaning for players.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Since the 1980s, 2D platform games have captivated their audiences. Whether the player scrambles up the ladders in \u003ci\u003eDonkey Kong\u003c\/i\u003e or leaps atop an impossibly tall pipe in \u003ci\u003eSuper Mario Bros.\u003c\/i\u003e, this deceptively simple visual language has persisted in our cultural imagination of video games. In \u003ci\u003eRun and Jump\u003c\/i\u003e, Peter McDonald surveys the legacy of 2D platform games and examines how abstract and formal design choices have kept players playing. McDonald argues that there is a rich layer of meaning underneath, say, the quality of an avatar's movement, the pacing and rhythm of level design, the personalities expressed by different enemies, and the emotion elicited by collecting a coin.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e To understand these games, McDonald draws on technical discussions by game designers as well as theoretical work about the nature of signs from structuralist semiotics. Interspersed throughout are design exercises that show how critical interpretation can become a tool for game designers to communicate with their players. With examples drawn from over forty years of game history, and from games made by artists, hobbyists, iconic designers, and industry studios, \u003ci\u003eRun and Jump\u003c\/i\u003e presents a comprehensive-and engaging-vision of this slice of game history.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":49753587712273,"sku":"NGR9780262547390","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ LIKE_NEW \/ SBYB","offer_id":52885653848337,"sku":"CIN0262547392LN","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0262547392.jpg?v=1750877523"},{"product_id":"well-read-game-book-tracy-fullerton-9780262552233","title":"The Well-Read Game","description":"\u003cb\u003eHow players evoke personal and subjective meanings through a new theory of player response.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e In \u003ci\u003eThe Well-Read Game,\u003c\/i\u003e Tracy Fullerton and Matthew Farber explore the experiences we have when we play games- not the outcomes of play or the aesthetics of formal game structures but the ephemeral and emotional experiences of being in play. These are the private stories we tell ourselves as we play, the questions we ask, and our reactions to the game's intent. These experiences are called \"readings\" because they involve so many of the aspects of engaging with literary, cinematic, and other expressive texts. A game that is experienced in such a way can be called \"well-read,\" rather than, or as well as, \"well-played,\" because of the personal, interpretive nature of that experience and the way in which it relates to our reading of texts of all kinds.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e The concept of the \"well-read game\" exists at the convergence of literary, media, and play theories-specifically, the works of Louise Rosenblatt's reader-response theory, Brian Upton's situational game theory, Tracy Fullerton's playcentric design theory, and Bernie DeKoven's well-played game philosophy. Each of these theories, from their own perspective, challenges notions of a separate, objective, or authorial meaning in a text and underscores the richness that arises from the varied responses of readers, who coauthor the meaning of each text through their active engagement with it. When taken together, these theories point to a richer understanding of what a game is and how we might better value our experiences with games to become more thoughtful readers of their essential meanings.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":51629004587281,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":51629005242641,"sku":"NGR9780262552233","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":53648325476625,"sku":"CIN026255223XG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/026255223X.jpg?v=1758968805"},{"product_id":"beauty-of-games-book-frank-lantz-9780262552950","title":"The Beauty of Games","description":"How games create beauty and meaning, and how we can use them to explore the aesthetics of thought.   Are games art? This question is a dominant mode of thinking about games and play in the twenty-first century, but it is fundamentally the wrong question. Instead, Frank Lantz proposes in his provocative new book, The Beauty of Games, that we think about games and how they create meaning through the lens of the aesthetic. We should think of games, he writes, the same way we think of literature, theater, or music as a form that ranges from deep and profound to easy and disposable, and everything in between. Games are the aesthetic form of interactive systems, a set of possibilities connected by rules of cause and effect.   In this book, Lantz analyzes games from chess to poker to tennis to understand how games create beauty and evoke a deeper meaning. 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