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Study information

Introduction to Games Studies

Module titleIntroduction to Games Studies
Module codeCMM2013
Academic year2024/5
Credits30
Module staff

Dr Ad Deshbandhu (Convenor)

Duration: Term123
Duration: Weeks

11

Number students taking module (anticipated)

32

Module description

This module introduces you to the foundational ideas of games studies and critical games research and looks at the various ways in which video games can be examined as digital media artifacts. By engaging with foundational understanding of games (systems, rituals, practices) and then looking at the many ways in which scholars of digital media have used games to study broader social phenomena, you will appreciate how practices of leisure and play can be used as a critical entry points to examine ideas of identity, performance, class, and access. 

Module aims - intentions of the module

The specific aims of this module include an introduction to the field of game studies, to look at a variety of perspectives of how to examine games – as designed systems, as platforms to engage with, and as media forms. By the conclusion of this module, you will be to examine video games and evaluate/assess them for what they are, look at how they are engaged with, repurposed, how they foster communities, discussions, and help develop of unique skills. You will also be able to understand how the global gaming industry functions and what does developing/making a game entail.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

  • 1. Demonstrate the ability to unpack video games as media texts and analyse the spectrum of interactivity, involvement, and engagements they offer
  • 2. Understand how games are designed as media forms and look at them critically – from monetization strategies to building and retention of player bases.

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

  • 3. Identify how video games communicate with players and how they are understood as interactive/ergodic media forms
  • 4. Critically engage with video games as extensions of transmedia and meta-media forms

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

  • 5. Understand how insights from video games and gaming communities can inform our understandings of media’s role today
  • 6. Reflect and analyse on player/self-engagement to understand how acts of play and play practices are internalised and performed

Syllabus plan

This module will introduce game studies and critical game studies broadly divided into three parts: understanding games as systems, games as digital media artifacts, and games as practices/parts of society. Themes in the module may include but are not limited to - ludology v/s narratology debate, games and rules, half-real understanding of games, immersion, engagement, incorporation, flow, character design and development, gender portrayal and representation in games, player identity and performance, gamification, games and mediality/transmedia.

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Scheduled Learning and Teaching ActivitiesGuided independent studyPlacement / study abroad
332670

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

CategoryHours of study timeDescription
Scheduled learning and teaching1111 x 1-hour lectures
Scheduled learning and teaching3311 x 2-hour seminars
Guided independent study91Seminar preparation
Guided independent study164Research and assignment preparation

Formative assessment

Form of assessmentSize of the assessment (eg length / duration)ILOs assessedFeedback method
Weekly Game Journal250 words per week1-2Written feedback

Summative assessment (% of credit)

CourseworkWritten examsPractical exams
10000

Details of summative assessment

Form of assessment% of creditSize of the assessment (eg length / duration)ILOs assessedFeedback method
Board game development and critical reflection (group assessment)503000 words (2 students per group)1-6Written feedback
Individual essay502,000 words1-6Written feedback
0
0
0
0
0

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Original form of assessmentForm of re-assessmentILOs re-assessedTimescale for re-assessment
Board Game Development and Critical Reflection Individual critical reflection (1500 words)1-6Referral/Deferral period
Individual essayIndividual essay (2,000 words)1-6Referral/Deferral period

Re-assessment notes

Deferral – if you miss an assessment for certificated reasons judged acceptable by the Mitigation Committee, you will normally be either deferred in the assessment or an extension may be granted. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment.

Referral – if you have failed the module overall (i.e., a final overall module mark of less than 40%) you will be required to submit a further assessment as necessary. If you are successful on referral, your overall module mark will be capped at 40%.

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

Aarseth, E. (1997). Cybertext: Perspectives on Ergodic Literature. Baltimore: The John Hopkins University Press.

Aarseth, E., and Calleja, G. (2015). The Word Game: The Ontology of an Undefinable Object. FDG.

Apperley, T. (2006). Genre and game studies: Toward a critical approach to video game genres. Simulation & Gaming, 37(1), 6–23.

Apperley, T. (2009). Gaming Rhythms: Play and Counterplay from the Situated to the Global (Vol. 6). Retrieved from: Lulu.com.

Bartle, R. (1996). Hearts, clubs, diamonds, spades: Players who suit MUDs. Journal of MUD Research, 1(1), 19.

Boellstorff, T. (2006). A ludicrous discipline? Ethnography and game studies. Games and Culture, 1(1), 29–35.

Boellstorff, T. (2015). Coming of Age in Second Life: An Anthropologist Explores the Virtually Human. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

Juul, J. (2005). Half-Real: Video Games between Real Rules and Fictional Worlds. Cambridge: MIT Press.

Juul, J. (2008). “The Magic Circle and the Puzzle Piece,” in Conference Proceedings of the Philosophy of Computer Games 2008 Potsdam, Germany: Potsdam University Press, 2008.

Keogh, B. (2014). Across worlds and bodies: Criticism in the age of video games. Journal of Games Criticism, 1(1).

Maigaard, P. (1951, August 30th–September 3rd). About Ludology. Presented at the 14th International Congress of Sociology Rome.

Malaby, T. M. (2007). Beyond play: A new approach to games. Games and Culture, 2(2), 95–113.

Murray, J. (1998). Hamlet on the Holodeck: The Future of Narrative in Cyberspace. Cambridge: MIT Press.

Shaw, A. (2012). Do you identify as a gamer? Gender, race, sexuality, and gamer identity. New Media & Society, 14(1), 28–44.

Shaw,A. (2015). Gaming at the Edge: Sexuality and Gender at the Margins of Gamer Culture. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

Taylor, T. L. (2009). Play between Worlds: Exploring Online Game Culture. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Taylor,T. L. (2012). Raising the Stakes: E-Sports and the Professionalization of Computer Gaming. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources

  • ELE – Faculty to provide hyperlink to appropriate pages
  • Aarseth, E. (2001). Computer game studies, year one, in game studies. The International Journal of Computer Game Research, 1(1), Retrieved from: http://game studies.org/0101/editorial.html

Key words search

Games; video games; e-sports; ludology; virtual worlds

Credit value30
Module ECTS

15

Module pre-requisites

None

Module co-requisites

None

NQF level (module)

5

Available as distance learning?

No

Origin date

3/2/2023

Last revision date

14/03/2023