Critical Videogame Studies

*Taught Online*   Since the 1960s, games have blossomed into the world’s most profitable artistic and cultural form. This course attends to a broad range of video game genres, including roguelikes (Hades), horror games (Until Dawn), visual novels (Butterfly Soup), cozy games (At Winter’s End), time loop games (12 Minutes), serious games (Never Alone), idle games (Cookie Clicker), and several others. The quarter is organized according by genres, which have been selected to invite thought about formal, historical, cultural, and sociopolitical dimensions of games. Readings by theorists including Ian Bogost, Mary Flanagan, and Mark J.P. Wolf will help us think about the field of videogame studies. In addition to weekly reading and a series of short exercises (designed to practice different modes of writing and creative development), students will also complete a final project.