Frank Lantz, a game designer and director at NYU's Game Center, dives into the fascinating world of games. He discusses the emotional resonance of gaming and its cultural significance, emphasizing games as an evolving form of art. Lantz contrasts the strategic depth of Go with the psychological chaos of poker, highlighting the unique cognitive experiences each offers. He explores how games shape personal identity and community connection, and the potential of gaming to foster personal growth. It's a captivating look at the interplay between logic and emotion in games.
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insights INSIGHT
Games as Interactive Art
A game is a cultural category, like an art form, with ambiguous boundaries.
It's the art form of interactivity, where meaning is created through player interaction.
insights INSIGHT
Non-Goal-Oriented Games
Goals, win/loss states are common game elements, but not essential.
Games can be about exploration and expression, like Second Life, blurring lines between game and virtual world.
question_answer ANECDOTE
Second Life Avatars
In Second Life, avatar creation reveals inner selves: idealized or fantastical.
Games provide performative identity play, like sports fandom's tribalism.
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In 'Homo Ludens,' Johan Huizinga argues that play is a fundamental element of human culture, essential for the generation of culture. He traces the contribution of play from ancient times through the Renaissance and into modern society, highlighting its role in law, science, philosophy, and the arts. Huizinga defines play against a rich theoretical background, using cross-cultural examples to illustrate its universal significance and its civilizing functions[2][3][5].
Games play an important, and arguably increasing, role in human life. We play games on our computers and our phones, watch other people compete in games, and occasionally break out the cards or the Monopoly set. What is the origin of this human impulse, and what makes for a great game? Frank Lantz is both a working game designer and an academic who thinks about the nature of games and gaming. We discuss what games are, contrast the challenges of Go and Poker and other games, and investigate both the “dark energy” that games can sometimes induce and the ways they can help us become better people. Support Mindscape on Patreon or Paypal. Frank Lantz is a game designer and Director of the Game Center at New York University. He co-founded Area/Code games, and is the designer or co-designer of numerous popular games, including Drop7 and Universal Paperclips. He is also responsible for a number of large-scale real-world games. He has taught at New York University, Parsons School of Design, and the School of Visual Arts. Web site NYU web page Wikipedia Talk on Go, Poker, and the Sublime Talk on Logic and Emotions in Games Twitter Universal Paperclips QWOP
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