Game Essays as Critical Media and Research Praxis

"Game Essays as Critical Media and Research Praxis" argues that playable, interactive works can serve as a legitimate form of critical media and humanities research, analogous to the established video essay in film studies. Drawing on Adorno's conception of the essay as an anti-methodical, exploratory form, the author proposes the "game essay" as an audio-visual, interactive mode of knowledge production that interrogates game culture and demystifies the processes behind game creation. Central to this claim is the idea that game essays are experimental rather than finished products, functioning as reflexive research instruments that test hypotheses and expose the values embedded in mechanics, engines, and design choices.

The work situates its argument within a "thinking through making" digital humanities perspective, treating the design process itself as a source of valid knowledge. Two grounding examples recur throughout: Gualeni's Necessary Evil (2013), which questions player-centrism through techniques such as foregrounding code and estrangement, and the author's own Unity3D prototypes, built from an Asteroids remix and ethnographic material gathered at a Pegida demonstration. From these practices the author derives what is termed "ludic a posteriori knowledge," positioned as an anti-method opposed to instrumental and formalist approaches to game research. Accessible tools such as Twine, Game Maker, and Unity3D are presented as lowering the barriers for humanities scholars to undertake such work.

The essay's contribution is primarily conceptual and theoretical, offering a set of design principles, including vignettes rather than complete games, hypothesis-testing, modifiability, and non-emptive multiplicity, without presenting empirical data or systematic evaluation. Its conclusions rest on argument and illustrative cases rather than measured findings. The scope is accordingly focused on digital humanities and game studies discourse, drawing on Utrecht Game Lab and Games on Games experiences, and engaging with a bibliography spanning ludology, procedurality, game design, and critical theory. The work's central assertion is that understanding games requires engaging with both play and the tools used to create them.