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Unarchived (Season 1, Episode 1)

Jason

Jonathan Blow’s The Witness with Jason Boyd (host), Jeremy Andriano, Patrick Dolan Broadcast date: 14 February, 2023 Writer: Jason Boyd Producer: Patrick Dolan In The Witness, the player wanders around a mysterious and gorgeous island solving increasingly complex line-drawing puzzles. But is that all there is to the game? What about the statues and audio logs that are to be found all over the island and the videos that can be watched in the theatre beneath the windmill? Is there a story or message in The Witness? All audio clips in the podcast quoted from The Witness (puzzle screens sound … Continue reading Unarchived (Season 1, Episode 1)

Gameful Experiences, Playable Stories ArchiveLeave a comment

Hades

Kevin Ghouchandra

http://www.supergiantgames.com/games/hades/ Entry by Kevin Ghouchandra A. BASIC INFORMATION Creators: Amir Rao (Design) Gavin Simon (Engineering and Design) Greg Kasavin (Design and Writing) Andrew Wang (Engineering) Darren Korb (Music and Sound) Jen Zee (Art) Josh Barnett (UI and Visual FX) Creation technology: Microsoft XNA Publisher: Supergiant Games Date of original release: September, 17th 2020 (Epic Games Store, Nintendo Switch, Steam) Platforms: PC, Mac, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, PlayStation 4, Playstation 5 Version used for entry: Nintendo Switch Ver 1.0.38233 Peripherals required: Speakers/Headphones Rating: ESRB T (Teen) Awards/Distinctions: Golden Joystick Awards 2020: Best Indie Game, Critic’s Choice The Game … Continue reading Hades

Gameful Experiences, Higher Education & Scholarship, Playable Stories Archive, Procedural Literacy & CreativityLeave a comment

DEVICE 6

Jason

https://simogo.com/work/device-6/ Entry by Jason Boyd A. BASIC INFORMATION Creator: Simogo (https://simogo.com/) Magnus “Gordon” Gardebäck (Production & Programming) Simon Flesser (Art, Sound & Direction; Co-Writer) Jonas Tarestad (Co-Writer) Daniel Olsen (Music) Jonathan Eng (writer and performer of song, “Anna”) Creation technology: Unity Publisher: Simogo Date (of original release): 2013 (October 17) Platform(s): iOS Peripherals required/recommended: head/earphones (recommended) Rating: 12+ (Apple Store) Awards/Distinctions: 2014 Independent Games Festival: Excellence in Audio 2014 Apple Design Award 2014 Pocket Gamer Awards: Most Innovative Game Award 2014 Global Mobile Awards: Best Entertainment App 2014 Nordic Game Awards: Best Nordic Innovation Award Version used for entry: iOS … Continue reading DEVICE 6

Gameful Experiences, Playable Stories Archive, Procedural Literacy & CreativityLeave a comment

Return of the Obra Dinn

Jason

https://obradinn.com/ Entry by Jason Boyd (revised 10 August 2024) A. Basic Information Creator: Lucas Pope (https://dukope.com/) Creation technology: Unity Publisher: 3909 LLC (Lucas Pope) Date (of original release): October 18, 2018 (PC: MacOS/Windows) Platform(s): PC, Switch, PS4, Xbox Peripherals required/recommended: Keyboard and mouse; speakers/headphones Rating: ESRB M (Mature 17+) Awards & Distinctions: 2018 The Game Awards: Best Art Direction 2019 Independent Games Festival: Grand Prize & Excellence in Narrative 2019 BAFTA Games Awards: Game Design & Artistic Achievement 2019 Game Developers Choice Awards: Best Narrative Version used for entry: MacOS (High Sierra 10.13.6) B. Game Information Game/eLit Genre(s): First Person … Continue reading Return of the Obra Dinn

Playable Stories ArchiveLeave a comment

Playable Stories Archive Entry Template

Jason

A. BASIC INFORMATION Title of Work Work website Creator(s) [Studio & Creative Team, with roles] Creator or Studio website Creation technology [software, eg. Unity] Publisher Date (of original release) Platform(s) Version used for entry [incl. OS version] Peripherals required (incl. speakers/headphones) Rating Awards/Distinctions B. LITERARY INFORMATION Related Literary Genre(s) Story/Plot Summary Suitability for Teaching C. GAME INFORMATION Game/eLit Genre(s) Gameplay [What kinds of activities does the player undertake? Including difficulty] Time to complete Replay required/useful? Walkthrough D. SOURCES AND RESOURCES Wikipedia entry Metacritic critic reviews URL [note that critic reviews for a single game are separated according to platform, so … Continue reading Playable Stories Archive Entry Template

Gameful Experiences, Playable Stories Archive, Procedural Literacy & CreativityLeave a comment

Tacoma

Jason

https://tacoma.game/ Entry composed by Jason Boyd A. Basic Information Creator(s): Fullbright (https://fullbrig.ht/) Kate Craig and Lexie Mason-Davis (3D Art) Tynan Wales and Nina Freeman (Design) Noel Clark and Janel Dewis (Animation) Hannah Bown, Brett Douville, Leon Hartwig (Programming) Patrick Balthrop (Sound) [taken from first credits screen at the conclusion of the game] Creation technology: Unity Publisher: Fullbright Date (of original release): 2017 (August 2) Platform(s): Windows, MacOS, Linux, XBox One; PlayStation 4 (May 8, 2018) Peripherals required/recommended: Keyboard and mouse; head/earphones Rating: ESRB M (Mature, 17+) Awards/Distinctions: Eurogamer, Top 50 Games of 2017 (#22); Best Graphics, Game Informer, 2017 Adventure … Continue reading Tacoma

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“What’s Making Them Run Away?”: The Nintendo DS and the Casual Revolution

ashmorenicholas

Jesper Juul argues in A Casual Revolution that “The stereotype of a casual player is the inverted image of the hardcore player: this player has a preference for positive and pleasant fictions, has played few video games, is willing to commit little time and few resources toward playing video games, and dislikes difficult games” (8). Juul goes on to relate modern casual video games to arcade games from the 1980s, such as Pac-Man, and ultimately posits that the Nintendo Wii played the biggest role in ushering in this casual ‘reinvention’ of gaming that exists today (2). Steven E. Jones and … Continue reading “What’s Making Them Run Away?”: The Nintendo DS and the Casual Revolution