http://hdl.handle.net/11089/45876 2026-04-04T12:01:08Z http://hdl.handle.net/11089/45937 Feeling the narrative control(ler): Casual art games as trauma therapy Austin, Hailey J.; Cooper, Lydia R. Through a combination of aesthetics and game mechanics, casual art games offer unique engagements with trauma, allowing players to practice grief or empathise with the traumatic experiences of others. Both “Spiritfarer” (Thunder Lotus Games 2020) and „Mutazione” (Die Gute Fabrik 2019) utilise similar aesthetics (2D art, pastel colours and calming music) alongside agency-driven gameplay mechanics (choosing when to let spirits go or how to react to a character’s trauma) that create a safe space. This is possible because neither game is competitive, nor does it allow the player to lose. Instead, agency is given to the player through narrative choice and exploration of the beautiful storyworld. We argue that games like “Spiritfarer” and “Mutazione” can be used as models for the further development of casual art games that can be used as art therapy through their emotional connections embedded in both the aesthetics and gameplay. 2022-11-21T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/11089/45936 O gropowiastkach Jankowski, Filip Fabian This paper proposes introducing a new category to describe certain digital games – “game-satire” (“gropowiastka”) – similar to literary philosophical satires. The author takes as his point of departure the term “game-story” (“gropowieść”) proposed by Tomasz Z. Majkowski, which usually refers to games that are rich in meaning and leave the player with a large margin of freedom. In contrast to the game-stories, the game-satires impose both the order of overcoming challenges and a particular flow of narration; the vision of the gameworld suits the thesis assumed by the creators. The term “game-satires” can include, for example, adventure games, autobiographical games, newsgames and “walking simulators.” The proposed concept would make it possible to challenge the rigid division of ludic software into “games” and “non-games” and more easily incorporate them into artistic discourse.; Niniejszy artykuł proponuje wprowadzenie nowej kategorii opisującej część gier cyfrowych – „gropowiastek” – na podobieństwo literackich powiastek filozoficznych. Za punkt wyjścia autor przyjmuje zaproponowane przez Tomasza Z. Majkowskiego określenie „gropowieści”, odnoszące się przeważnie do gier bogatych znaczeniowo i pozostawiających graczowi spory margines swobody. W przeciwieństwie do gropowieści, w gropowiastkach z góry ustalona jest kolejność zarówno pokonywania wyzwań, jak i toku opowiadania; wizja świata – zgodna z założoną przez twórców tezą. W pojęciu gropowiastek można zawrzeć przykładowo gry przygodowe, autobiograficzne, dziennikarskie i „symulatory chodzenia”. Tak więc proponowane pojęcie pozwoliłoby zakwestionować sztywny podział oprogramowania ludycznego na „gry” i „nie-gry” oraz łatwiej włączyć je w dyskurs artystyczny. 2022-11-21T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/11089/45935 The aesthetics of speedrunning: Performances in neo-baroque space Reed, Emilie Speedrunning describes activities related to the development and performance of strategies to complete games quickly, and is a valuable source of historical and technical information, while producing specialized aesthetic explorations of a videogame’s environment. Most research on speedrunning emphasizes its metagaming or documentary function. However, speedrunning also changes the aesthetic experience of gameplay, both for players and in spectated performance. Aesthetic investigation informed by art historical perspectives, such as Angela Ndalianis’ theory of the Neo-Baroque and H.S. Becker’s study of Art World formations, offers new insights into the experience of speedrunning and how discontinuous and disjointed simulated space is experienced and appreciated as aesthetic phenomena by players and spectators. While Nidalianis has applied her theory to videogames, among other types of contemporary entertainment, further investigating speedrunning performances through this lens extends her analysis and problematizes the idea of a videogame as a singular aesthetic work, instead drawing attention to alternative aesthetic experiences videogames can offer. 2022-10-25T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/11089/45934 Playing distressed art: Adorno’s aesthetic theory in game design Hanussek, Benjamin The discussion on games as (not) art has been raging for decades without reaching a consensus. It is argued here that the ontological status of games is irrelevant for the perception and development of aesthetic experiences in videogames. Instead, game design should be regarded as ripe to convey the experience of art according  to established aesthetic theories. The essay presents Adorno’s aesthetic theory and highlights its reflections in the games Papers, Please and Observer. It then describes how they were synthesized into a  critical gameplay experience in the author’s game Distressed. The latter may be regarded as an example of a method in game studies in which the aesthetic potential of games is explored by creation rather than analysis. Arguably, this reveals the importance of epistemological approaches  towards games and art instead of the predominant ontological ones. 2022-08-09T00:00:00Z