Games allow players to experiment and play with subject positions, values and moral choice. In game worlds players can take on the role of antagonists; they allow us to play with behaviour that would be offensive, illegal or immoral if it happened outside of the game sphere. While contemporary games have always handled certain problematic topics, such as war, disasters, human decay, post-apocalyptic futures, cruelty and betrayal, lately even the most playful of genres are introducing situations in which players are presented with difficult ethical and moral dilemmas. This volume is an investigation of "dark play" in video games, or game play with controversial themes as well as controversial play behaviour. It covers such questions as: Why do some games stir up political controversies? How do games invite, or even push players towards dark play through their design? Where are the boundaries for what can be presented in a games? Are these boundaries different from other media such as film and books, and if so why? What is the allure of dark play and why do players engage in these practices?
Author(s): Torill Elvira Mortensen, Jonas Linderoth, Ashley ML Brown
Publisher: Taylor and Francis
Year: 2015
Language: English
Pages: 328
Part I: Introduction
1. Dark Play: The Aesthetics of Controversial Playfulness by Torill Elvira Mortensen and Jonas Linderoth
Part II: Discourses of Dark Play
2. Analyzing Game Controversies: A Historical Approach to Moral Panics and Digital Games by Faltin Karlsen
3. Of Heroes and Henchmen: The Conventions of Killing Generic Expendables in Digital Games by René Glas
4. Don’t Forget to Die: A Software Update is Available for the Death Drive by Emily Flynn-Jones
Part III: Dark Play or Darkly Played?
5. Killing Digital Children: Design, Discourse and Player Agency by Björn Sjöblom
6. Little Evils: Subversive Uses of Children’s Games by Frans Mäyrä
7. Darkly Playing Others by Miguel Sicart
Part IV: Dark Play and Situated Meaning
8. Three Defences for the Fourteen-Inch Barbed Penis: Darkly Playing with Morals, Ethics and Sexual Violence by Ashley ML Brown
9. Exploring the Limits of Play: A Case Study of Representations of Nazism in Games by Adam Chapman and Jonas Linderoth
10. Keeping the Balance: Morals at the Dark Side by Torill Elvira Mortensen
11. Fabricated Innocence: On How People Can be Lured into Feel Bad Games by Staffan Björk
Part V: Designing for Dark Play
12. Massively Multiplayer Dark Play; Treacherous Play in EVE Online by Marcus Carter
13. Dark Play in Dishonored by Kristine Jørgensen
14. Sonic Descents: Musical Dark Play in Survival and Psychological Horror by Isabella van Elferen
15. Boosting, Glitching and Modding Call of Duty: Assertive Dark Play Manifestations, Communities, Pleasures and Organic Resilience by Alan Meades
