Game Studies

Abstract

'Game Studies' is generally used to signify a humanities-based orientation to the study of games, play and related phenomena. This involves the development of conceptual, theoretical and methodological approaches that address the artistic form and aesthetic experience of games as a form of art and entertainment. As such, Game Studies is also a young academic discipline, which entered academia in the early 2000s. There are different emphases in how contemporary Game Studies is being practised, with some scholars focusing more attention on the formal characteristics of games, some on the role of play and players, game design, or on the historical and political contexts and meanings for games and play.