An interesting take on the role of procedural rherotic (Gaming)

by electricpirate , Sunday, November 03, 2013, 22:41 (3834 days ago) @ SonofMacPhisto

It's an interesting take on a common debate in game studies (What role does the player have in the message of a rule set). I never really looked at the "Who makes games that say these things." But she has a point about the fact that many queer individuals seem to focus on experiences that convey a personal story rather than a power fantasy. I know Anna Anthropy does stuff in a similar vein. I really like Triad, which serves as an interesting metaphor on the challenges of poly amorous relationships.

I do kind of take issue with the idea that not iterating somehow makes those cases stronger. Even in non procedural representations, creators iterate. I'm not sure why games magically can be expressive sans iteration. Iteration doesn't just mean, "Do what the players want." It can also mean "Hey these people didn't get it, let me tweak the way I'm saying it so they do."

Here's a longer form counter to the idea of taking meaning from rules if you want a deeper discussion on this kind of topic.

http://gamestudies.org/1103/articles/sicart_ap

I did play mainichi though, that's a pretty effective little piece of software. A game about how decisions do and don't matter, that successfully put me into her mindset.