A Reading Typology for Video Game Players: Bridging Cultural and Game Studies

This study develops a reading typology for how video game players interpret the games they play, bridging cultural studies reception theory with game studies frameworks. Its central argument is that existing models, such as MDA and Calleja's involvement model, explain play mechanics and motivation well but underdevelop the interpretive work through which players construct meaning. Drawing on reception theory from Hall, Fiske, and Morley, the authors propose a set of non-exclusive readings: ideological, aesthetic, narrative, metatextual, and ludic, with the ludic category subdivided into challenge and difficulty, game mechanics, gameplay and control, and immersion.

The typology rests on thirty semi-structured interviews with millennial gamers in Monterrey, Mexico, evenly split between men and women, and on player accounts of titles including Metroid, The Last of Us Part II, Silent Hill 3, Tomb Raider, The Legend of Zelda, and Minecraft. Each reading can express either acceptance or rejection of a game's offerings, and the readings frequently overlap or negotiate with one another. A notable finding is that ideological and metatextual concerns often reframe the other interpretive layers, shaping how players perceive a game's aesthetics, narrative, and mechanics.

The authors are explicit about the study's limits. The sample is generationally and culturally specific, drawn from a relatively homogeneous metropolitan population, which supports analytical depth but restricts claims to universality. The authors conclude that meaning in games emerges through situated player engagement rather than through design alone. They position the framework as a tool for future research, calling for testing and adaptation across diverse geographic, cultural, and demographic populations.