Well Played 1.0: Video Games, Value and Meaning

Video games can be “well played” in two senses. On the one hand, well played is to games as well read is to books. On the other hand, well played as in well done. This book is full of in-depth close readings of video games that parse out the various meanings to be found in the experience of playing a game.

Book Description

22 contributors (developers, scholars, reviewers and bloggers) look at video games through both senses of “well played.” The goal is to help develop and define a literacy of games as well as a sense of their value as an experience. Video games are a complex medium that merits careful interpretation and insightful analysis.

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Ico – Charles Herold
• Super Mario Bros. – Patrick Curry
• Advance Wars – Noah Falstein
• Ultima Underworld – Corvus Elrod
• Bully – Kirk Battle (L.B. Jeffries)
• Half-Life 2 – Mark Sivak
• Europa Universalis – Greg Costikyan
• Zork & Kingdom of Loathing – Brett E. Shelton
• Phoenix Wright – Mia Consalvo
• Shadow of the Colossus – Nick Fortugno
• Civilization 4 – Kurt Squire, Shree Durga, Ben Devane
• Parappa the Rapper – Katherine Isbister
• Portal & Passage – Nick Montfort
• Silent Hill 2 – Doris C. Rusch
• Bioshock – Clint Hocking
• Metal Gear Solid 4 – James Paul Gee
• Tempest – Mary D. Flanagan
• Guitar Hero – Jason Vandenberghe
• Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time – Seth Sivak
• The Secret of Monkey Island – Clara Fernández-Vara
• Mines of Minos – Jesse Schell
• World of Goo – Drew Davidson

Download Free PDF / Read Online