Journal of Games Criticism
Open-access peer-reviewed journal (since 2014) that bridges academic game studies and popular games criticism.
Documents
Ludic Composites and Playable Silvas
Silvicity functions as a critical framework for analyzing heterogeneous videogames that resist traditional classification as simple minigame collections.
Mapping Dissonance: A Critical Analysis of Colonial RPG Conventions in GreedFall
GreedFall serves as a primary case study for the persistent tension between anti-colonial narrative intentions and the structural reliance on imperialist gameplay conventions within the role-playing genre.
Goblins for Slaughter: The Perpetuation of Racism and Classism in Baldur's Gate 3
Baldur’s Gate 3 functions as a modern vessel for antiquated, discriminatory paradigms by framing the systematic eradication of goblins as a morally righteous endeavor.
Eternal Sunshine and the “Gestaltized” Mind: The Broken Promise of the Posthuman in NieR Replicant
NieR Replicant functions as a profound critique of anthropocentrism, utilizing its narrative and ludic structures to dismantle traditional human-centric binaries.
Videogames, the Anthropocene, and Other Problems of Scale: Methodological Notes for the Study of Digital Games in Times of Ecological Crisis
The study of digital games within the context of the Anthropocene requires a fundamental shift in methodology, moving away from traditional frameworks that treat games as either educational instruments for behavioral change or representational tools for depicting ecological collapse.
Of Cyborgs and Cats: Nonhuman Companionship and the Specter of Humanity in NieR: Automata and Stray
Games such as NieR: Automata and Stray utilize nonhuman avatars to navigate post-apocalyptic landscapes, ostensibly offering a post-humanist perspective on the aftermath of the Anthropocene.
Playing the Posts: Post-Anthropocene, Posthuman, Post-Apocalypse
Video games function as vital experimental laboratories for navigating the complexities of the post-Anthropocene, posthumanism, and the post-apocalypse.
Dark Entanglement and Visions of the Post-Anthropocene in Battlefield 2042
Battlefield 2042 functions as a critical ecocritical text that illustrates the concept of dark entanglement, defined as the destructive intersection of capitalist, geotechnic, and military-industrial infrastructures.
Posthumanist, Post-apocalyptic, and Post-anthropocentric Possibilities: Kantian Morals and Posthuman Ethics in My Friend is a Raven
The 2019 game My Friend is a Raven serves as a critical site for examining the transition from traditional humanist morality to a posthumanist ethic within post-apocalyptic digital environments.
Beyond Barren Wastelands: The Greening of the Post-apocalypse in Video Games
Post-apocalyptic video games are increasingly moving away from narratives of total destruction to embrace themes of ecological recovery and nonhuman agency.
Character Affectivity in Newton and the Apple Tree
Newton and the Apple Tree serves as a primary case study for a multidisciplinary framework designed to analyze how fictional characters elicit affective responses in players.
Colonized Morality Mechanics: The Struggle to Be Good in Telltale's The Walking Dead
The Walking Dead series by Telltale Games serves as a critical case study for how interactive media can enforce colonialist moral frameworks upon marginalized protagonists.