Digital Escapes. The Importance of Spatiality in Game Design (WiSe 20/21 - OpenRUB)

Seminar plan – Mandatory & further reading

Introduction session
Aarseth, E (2001): Allegories of Space. The Question of Spatiality in Computer Games.
            In: Eskelinen, M./Koskimaa, R. (eds.) CyberText Yearbook. Jyväskylä: Univ of
             Jyväskylä Pess, p. 152 – 171.

Günzel, S. (2019): What do they represent? Computer games as spatial concepts.
              In: Aarseth, E./Günzel, S. (eds) Ludotopia. Spaces, Places and Territories in
              Computer Games. Bielefeld: Transcript, p. 13 – 19.
Rauscher, A. (2018): Raum. In: Beil, B./Hensel, T./Rauscher, A. (eds.): Game Studies.
               Wiesbaden: Springer VS, p. 3-26. (Optional).

Block 1, Session 1 –Spatiality and Games
See texts group A, B, C, D

Block 1, Session 2 –Game Design Theory
Sylvester, T. (2013): Decisions. In: ibid. Designing Games. A Guide to Engineering Experiences.
             Sebastopol: O’Reilly, p. 48 & 127 – 137.
Salen, K./Zimmerman, E. (2004): Rules of Play: Game Design Fundamentals. 
              Massachusetts: MIT Press, p. 141 – 148. (Optional).

Online Phase II –Conceptualization Escape Rooms
Kim, S. (2019): What is a puzzle? In: Fullerton, T. (2019): Game Design Workshop.
           A Playcentric Approach to Creating Innovative Games. Boca Raton: CRC Press, p. 40 – 44.              

Block 2, Session 1 –Storytelling
Domsch, S. (2019): Space and Narrative in Computer Games. In: Aarseth, E./Günzel, S. (eds) Ludotopia. Spaces, Places and Territories in Computer Games. Bielefeld: Transcript, p. 103– 123.

Block 3, Session 2–Refinement
Chess, S. (2017): The Playful is Political. In: (ebd.) Ready Player Two. Women Games and 
             Designed Identity. Minneapolis/London: Univ. of Minnesota Press, p. 173 – 179.
Chess, S. (2017): Playing with identity. In: (ebd.) Ready Player Two. Women Games and 
             Designed Identity. Minneapolis/London: Univ. of Minnesota Press, p. 31 – 58.(Optional).

Group texts – Mandatory

Group A

Domsch, S. (2019): Space and Narrative in Computer Games. In: Aarseth, E./Günzel, S.
             (eds) Ludotopia. Spaces, Places and Territories in Computer Games. Bielefeld:
             Transcript, p. 103– 123.
Jenkins, H. (2004): Game Design as Narrative Architecture. In: Waldrip-Fruin, N./
              Harrigan, P. (eds.): First Person: New Media as Story, Performance, and Game, 
              pp. 118 - 130. Cambridge/London: MIT Press.  
Nitsche, M. (2009): Video Game Spaces: Image, Play and Structure in 3D Game 
               Worlds. Cambridge/London: MIT Press, p. 25-29 & p. 159-169.

Group B & Group D

Aarseth, E. (2019): Ludoforming. Changing Actual, Historical or Fictional
            Topographies into Ludic Topologies. In: Aarseth, Espen/Günzel, Stephan
            (eds): Ludotopia. Spaces, Places and Territories in Computer Games, pp. 127 - 140.
             Bielefeld: Transcript.

Gazzard, A. (2018): Gaming maps and virtual worlds. In: Kent, A. J./Vujakovic, P. (eds) 
            The Routledge Handbook of Mapping and Cartography, pp. 528 – 535.
             London/New York: Routledge.

Murray, S. (2017): On Video Games. The Visual Politics of Race, Gender and Space.
            London/New York: Tauris, p. 141-182

Group C

Ermi, L. / Mäyrä, F. (2011): Fundamental Components of the gameplay
            experience. In: Günzel, S./Liebe, M./Mersch, D. (eds): DIGEC
            Keynote-Lectures 2009/10, pp. 88 - 113. Potsdam: Univ Press.

Nitsche, M. (2008): "Players 'in' the Video Game Space." In: ibid. Video Game Spaces.
             Image, Play and Structure in 3D Worlds, pp. 203 – 226. Cambridge: MIT Press.

Schwingeler, S. (2019): Playing with Sight: Construction of Perspective in
            Videogames. In: Aarseth, E./Günzel, S. (eds): Ludotopia. Spaces, Places
            and Territories in Computer Games, pp. 41 - 60. Bielefeld: Transcript.

 Further Reading (optional)

Space and Spatiality

Edney, M. H. (2018): Map History. Discrouse and Process. In: Kent, A. J./Vujakovic, P.
            (eds) The Routledge Handbook of Mapping and Cartography, pp. 68 – 79.
             London/New York: Routledge.
Günzel, S. (2019): What do they represent? Computer games as spatial concepts.
            In: Aarseth, E./Günzel, S. (eds) Ludotopia. Spaces, Places and Territories in
            Computer Games. Bielefeld: Transcript, p. 13 – 19.
Huizinga, J. (1958): Homo Ludens. A Study of the Play-Element in Culture. First Published 1938.
             London: Routledge, p. 1-18.
Lefebvre, H. (1974): The Production of Space. Translated by D. Nicholson-Smith. 
             Hoboken, NJ: Blackwell, p. 16-36.
Rauscher, A. (2018): Raum. In: Beil, B./Hensel, T./Rauscher, A. (eds.): Game Studies. 
              Wiesbaden: Springer VS, p. 3-26.
Saker, M./Frith, J. (2020): Coextensive space: virtual reality and the developing
              relationship between the body, the digital and physical space. In: Media, Culture & 
              Society  42(8), pp. 1427–1442. 

Game Design

Engelstein, G. (2020): Achievement Relocked. Cambridge/London: MIT Press, p. 5-26.
Morris, J. (2020): Escape Rooms in Education. A Practical Guide.
Sylvester, Tynan (2013): Designing Games. A Guide to Engineering Experiences.
            Sebastopol: O’Reilly