1 free read left. Create a free account for unlimited reading + AI research.

WhitepaperPress Start26 Aug 2019

Shifting Borders: Walking Simulators, Artgames, and the Categorical Compulsions of Gaming Discourse

Key insights

7 slides

Categorization issue

Gaming discourse uses restrictive categories to legitimize the medium.

Binary categories such as 'artgame' and 'walking simulator' are frequently used.

Case studies

Experimental games like 'The Night Journey' and 'Walking Simulator A Month Club' resist formal classification.

These games prioritize disorientation and non-goal-oriented play. They serve as case studies for how experimental games challenge traditional categories.

Design Choice. Bill Viola's 2007 gallery installation 'The Night Journey' and Connor Sherlock's 2015 'Walking Simulator A Month Club' serve as case studies for how experimental games resist formal classification by prioritizing…

Strategic labeling

Connor Sherlock uses the 'walking simulator' label as an ironic branding strategy.

This strategy manages player expectations on platforms like itch.io and Patreon.

Intentional Use. Connor Sherlock utilizes the 'walking simulator' label on platforms like itch.io and Patreon as a deliberate, ironic branding strategy to manage player expectations and critique the tension between interactive gameplay…

Analytical method

Critical analysis benefits from 'spelunking,' prioritizing subjective, fragmented experiences.

This method, proposed by scholars like Laine Nooney and Aubrey Anable, moves away from universal definitions.

Like exploring a cave, this method encourages discovery without a fixed map, embracing the unique path each player takes.

New Approach. Critical analysis of these works benefits from 'spelunking'—a method proposed by scholars like Laine Nooney and Aubrey Anable—which prioritizes subjective, fragmented experiences over the search for universal, teleological definitions.

1 / 7

Ask AI about this report

Summary

The gaming industry frequently relies on restrictive taxonomic labels such as walking simulator and artgame to categorize digital experiences, yet these classifications often fail to capture the nuance of contemporary interactive media. By examining works like Bill Viola’s The Night Journey and Connor Sherlock’s Marginalia, it becomes clear that these rigid, formalist definitions are insufficient for analyzing games that prioritize atmosphere and ambiguity over traditional mechanics. A more effective approach involves a speleological method, which favors subjective, imprecise analysis over the compulsion to force interactive art into predefined ontological boxes.

These specific titles utilize goal-less, disorienting landscapes to evoke the sublime, intentionally blurring the lines between high-art installations and commercial software. By stripping away conventional objectives, these games facilitate phenomenologically imprecise experiences that resist rationalist categorization. This resistance is not a failure of design but a deliberate challenge to the industry’s tendency to prioritize structural classification. Such works demonstrate that the current academic and critical frameworks are ill-equipped to address the affective power of games that exist at the intersection of digital play and fine art.

Ultimately, the study of these interactive environments reveals a fundamental tension between the industry’s desire for order and the inherent fluidity of artistic expression. Moving beyond rigid genre boundaries requires a shift toward analytical modes that embrace ambiguity and prioritize the player’s subjective encounter with the sublime. By abandoning the pursuit of definitive labels, critics and scholars can better appreciate how these games expand the boundaries of the medium, proving that the most significant digital experiences are often those that refuse to be neatly defined.

Next steps

Ask about this whitepaperGet an answer from its pages, with every figure linked to the page it is on.
More like thisOther documents from the same Writer and on the same theme, below.

Shifting Borders: Walking Simulators, Artgames, and the Categorical Compulsions of Gaming Discourse

Shifting Borders: Walking Simulators, Artgames, and the Categorical Compulsions of Gaming Discourse

Key insights

Gaming discourse uses restrictive categories to legitimize the medium.

The term 'artgame' has expanded into a broad, ill-defined taxonomy since 2003.

Experimental games like 'The Night Journey' and 'Walking Simulator A Month Club' resist formal classification.

Connor Sherlock uses the 'walking simulator' label as an ironic branding strategy.

'The Night Journey' and 'Marginalia' achieve a sense of the sublime through ambiguous design.

Critical analysis benefits from 'spelunking,' prioritizing subjective, fragmented experiences.

Digital storefronts and algorithms force experimental titles into rigid genre buckets.

Summary

Next steps

Games and companies in this document

Connections

More from Press Start

Black and White in Color: Ludonarrative Deconstruction and (Anti-)Monomyth in Pokémon (2010)

Playfully Anachronistic and Historically Inauthentic: Understanding Resistance to Diverse Representation in Call of Duty: Vanguard

World Annihilation Operations Database

Playing to Care: Games as Empathy Development Tools in Healthcare Education

To See and Fear: A Pilot Study on Gaze Behaviour in Horror Gaming

The Perfect Game: The Effect of Perfectionism and Performance on Game Experiences

The Art of Playing a Role in an MMORPG: An Ethnographic Exploration of World of Warcraft Role-Playing

Queer Reorientations in Visual Novels: Our Life: Beginnings & Always' Meaningful Choices

Of Floating Isles: On Growing Pains and Video Games

Review: Zen and Slow Games

Can Ordinary Horror Games Reduce Avoidant and Safety Behaviours in Players with Anxiety Disorders?

How 2B?: The Narrative Mechanics of Posthumanism in NieR: Automata

More on Game Studies

Thinking on Our Feet: Baby Steps (2025) Towards (Im)balancing the Somatic and the Stoney

Der Zusammenhang von Anfängen und Serialität in Computerspielen: Wie die konzeptionelle Serialität von Computerspielen Erwartungshaltungen gegenüber ihren Anfängen determiniert

Portraying Mental Illness in Video Games: Exploratory Case Studies for Improving Interactive Depictions

Papers, Please as Critical Making: A Review

Well Played: Volume 1, Number 1

Gacha Impact: Systems, Characters, and the Player Experience of Gacha Games

xXx_FANTASYLAND_xXx: Using Video Game Interfaces for Developing Interactive Live Performances

Love in Games: Exploring Emotional Connections with Characters

Playful Interactions Reimagined: Technological Innovations for Inclusive and Connective Play

The Accessibility Paradox: Platform Standardisation and the Legitimacy of Play

A Signaling Theory Analysis of Social Interaction Design in Sky: Children of the Light and Journey

I Don't Have Faith in the Developers to Use My Feedback: Understanding Player Values and Expectancy for Reporting Systems in Video Games