Definition Of Philosophical Game-Gualeni
#notesFromPaper #inbib Year : Tags : philosophical games Authors: Gualeni
what makes a game philosophical? Also, may as well link my list of philosophy - games
Games that are designed to invite players to think philosophically within (and about) their gameworlds.
We suspend our disbelief, without literally believing.
Not only do they have philosophy central to their plots, but they leverage hypotheticals to stimulate our intuitions and trigger our critical faculties.
This paper is not looking at games that refer to philosophers or provide simple accounts of philosophy history.
- interactivity allows players to take meaningful action, responsibility, and critically reflect.
- replayability allows for exploration
- game worlds are more detailed than other media
dialectic games and rhetorical games
Focused, shorter games with specific messages could be also thought of as “playable essays” if rhetorical or “playable thought experiments” if dialectic
Common areas currently addressed by philosophical games
- ethics and morality
- moral dilemmas in games
- political dissent & social criticism
- alterity and estrangement
- games that just do something weird or provide perspective taking
- our understanding of games
- The Stanley Parable discusses free will and limitation in games, The Beginner's Guide talks about what it even means to make games.
Criticism and Discussion
- I think the list of common areas addressed by philosophical games is incomplete, though what deserves placement on the list is of course, subjective. That said, I do think consciousness + the self (especially AI consciousness) could make a nice addition. Games like The Talos Principle, SOMA, Detroit - Become Human, and Event0 are all great examples in this space. My list philosophy - games has even more category breakdowns.
- My note on what makes a game philosophical discusses how some games are “more philosophical” than others, something that could be an interesting section in this paper.
