The International Journal of Computer Game Research

Our Mission - To explore the rich cultural genre of games; to give scholars a peer-reviewed forum for their ideas and theories; to provide an academic channel for the ongoing discussions on games and gaming.

Game Studies is a non-profit, open-access, crossdisciplinary journal dedicated to games research, web-published several times a year at www.gamestudies.org.

Our primary focus is aesthetic, cultural and communicative aspects of computer games, but any previously unpublished article focused on games and gaming is welcome. Proposed articles should be jargon-free, and should attempt to shed new light on games, rather than simply use games as metaphor or illustration of some other theory or phenomenon.



Game Studies is published with the support of:

The Swedish Research Council (Vetenskapsrådet)

The Joint Committee for Nordic Research Councils for the Humanities and the Social Sciences

Blekinge Institute of Technology

IT University of Copenhagen

Lund University

If you would like to make a donation to the Game Studies Foundation, which is a non-profit foundation established for the purpose of ensuring continuous publication of Game Studies, please contact the Editor-in-Chief or send an email to: foundation at gamestudies dot org
Motivations for Video Game Play And Political Decision-Making: Evidence from Four Countries

by Francis Dalisay, Matthew J. Kushin, Jinhee Kim, Amy Forbes, Clarissa C. David, Lilnabeth P. Somera

This article explores relationships between motivations for video game play and 3 key dimensions of political decision-making: political efficacy, skepticism and apathy. A cross-national survey of participants in Australia, South Korea, the Philippines and the U.S. was conducted. The findings extend understanding of videogame's civic potential. [more]
Liminal Rhetoric in Girlhood Games: Developmental Disruption in Night School Studio’s Oxenfree

by Stephanie Harkin

This paper presents a lens through which to examine girlhood games as liminal spaces that hold a potentially transformative role for girl players. A textual analysis of Night School Studio’s Oxenfree applies this lens, arguing that the game subverts linear ideologies of development. [more]
Observant Play: Colonial Ideology in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

by Rachael Hutchinson

This paper asks how ideology is conveyed in the open world environment. Colonial readings of Breath of the Wild are challenged in the context of historical Japanese discourses on “civilized” and “uncivilized.” The term “observant play” builds on ideas of the implied player, with player agency examined in terms of ethics and self-limitation. [more]
The Game I Mean: Game Reference, Citation and Authoritative Access

by Eric Kaltman, Stacey Mason, Noah Wardrip-Fruin

The field of game studies is grappling with the question of how to cite its objects of study. Current recommendations derive from print-based traditions and disciplinary blind spots. In response, this article looks at the fundamental reasons for citation and recommends an approach based on the level of access needed to validate an author’s claim. [more]
Digital Recycling: Retrotopia in representations of warships in World of Warships

by Michał Kłosiński

This article offers an interpretation of ORP Błyskawica, a famous Polish World War II destroyer digitally represented in the videogame, World of Warships. This object is analyzed as a "quasi-historical object": a medium for exploring and idealizing the past by manipulating the ontology of the historical artifacts they are built after. [more]
Improving video game conversations with trope-informed design

by Stephanie Rennick, Seán Roberts

Video game dialogue and "real life" conversations differ in interesting and surprising ways. Informed by pragmatics and conversational analysis, we propose ways to make NPC dialogue more realistic and thereby improve player immersion. [more]
The Economics of Decision-Making in Video Games

by Weimin Toh

Decision-making is an important life skill. We used a theoretical thematic analysis approach to code the players’ decision-making in video games using economic concepts. We then relate the economic considerations to other factors within gameplay activity. [more]

Call for Papers

Call for Papers: Game Analysis Perspectives (GAP)

by GAP '22

The Game Studies journal and the Making Sense of Games (MSG) project invite contributions to a double-blind peer-review, single-track conference on the topic of game analysis. The conference is hosted by the Center for Computer Games Research at the IT University of Copenhagen in April, 2022. We invite full papers and extended abstracts. [more]

 

©2001 - 2021 Game Studies Copyright for articles published in this journal is retained by the journal, except for the right to republish in printed paper publications, which belongs to the authors, but with first publication rights granted to the journal. By virtue of their appearance in this open access journal, articles are free to use, with proper attribution, in educational and other non-commercial settings.