Games and Culture publishes innovative theoretical and empirical research about games and culture within the context of interactive media. The journal serves as a premiere outlet for groundbreaking and germinal work in the field of game studies. The journal"s scope includes the sociocultural, political, and economic dimensions of gaming from a wide variety of perspectives, including textual analysis, political economy, cultural studies, ethnography, critical race studies, gender studies, media studies, public policy, international relations, and communication studies.

Games and Culture publishes innovative theoretical and empirical research about games and culture within the context of interactive media. The journal serves as a premier outlet for groundbreaking and foundational work in the field of game studies. Its scope includes the sociocultural, political, and economic dimensions of gaming, explored from a variety of perspectives, including textual analysis, political economy, cultural studies, ethnography, critical race studies, gender studies, media studies, public policy, international relations, and communication studies.

《Games and Culture》期刊发表关于游戏与文化的创新理论和实证研究，特别是在互动媒体的背景下。该期刊是游戏研究领域开创性和基础性工作的首要出版平台。期刊的范围涵盖了游戏的社会文化、政治和经济维度，采用多种视角进行探讨，包括文本分析、政治经济学、文化研究、民族志、批判种族研究、性别研究、媒体研究、公共政策、国际关系和传播研究。

Games and Culture

Video games have emerged as one of the most ubiquitous forms of media globally, exerting a considerable influence on our perceptions of other cultures. However, contemporary video games have perpetuated negative stereotypes about Brazilian favelas and their residents, prioritizing aesthetics and themes that fetishize poverty, precarity, and violence. This essay critically examines the (mis)representations of Brazilian favelas in video games, exploring their far-reaching implications for global perceptions of favelas and their residents, and their role in perpetuating negative stereotypes.

Ricardo Martins

Desire and Delusion: Fetish of Brazilian Favela in Videogame (Mis)representation

欲望与妄想：电子游戏中巴西贫民窟的恋物癖（误）再现

This article lays the foundation for a ludic theory of cognition. At the core of this approach are two theories of mind and world brought into dialogue with one another: enactive cognition and ludic sociology. Combining these two approaches results in a theory of cognition in which social agents and game players alike rely on cognitive play to enact and inhabit worlds of meaning and significance. In the first section of the article, I draw out the relationship between enactive cognition and cultural theorist Pierre Bourdieu's ludic sociology, consolidating them into a ludic theory of cognition. In the second section, I examine how the ludic nature of cognition facilitates and inhibits understanding between agents and players, such that cognitive play itself is seen as the means by which we understand ourselves, each other, and the worlds around us.

Steve Wilcox

Hello, Worlds: A Ludic Theory of Cognition

你好，世界：认知的游戏理论

This study analyses the elements involved in adapting a video game or video game saga into a film or series, aiming to propose a model of film adaptation by identifying independent intertextual and intermedial variables. A review of specialized literature in game studies, cinematography, intertextuality, intermediality, and adaptation was conducted. Independent variables were extracted and used to analyze the series adaptation of the Fallout saga. The results are discussed in relation to theoretical precepts from the literature. The findings allow for the proposal of a cinematic adaptation model that interprets different narrative and digital levels of video games. Key elements include the narrative base, construction of an independent story, addition, omission, intermedial translation, suppression, and manageable complexity.

Alfonso Freire-Sánchez

Montserrat Vidal-Mestre

Maria Fitó-Carreras

Proposed Model for Video Game-to-Series Adaptation and Intermedial Translation Based on the Case of Fallout

基于《辐射》案例的视频游戏改编系列及跨媒体翻译的拟议模型

This article advocates for a reevaluation of the thief class as a bridge linking literary narratives and tabletop role-playing games (TRPGs). It traces the roots of the Dungeons &amp; Dragons (D&amp;D) thief class in Picaresque Literature against the wider importance of literature in the early TRGP scene, by comparing the thief class to the Picaresque rogue. Through a thematic analysis of articles from eight key TRPG periodicals published between 1975 and 1986, the article illustrates how “extensibility mechanisms” facilitated creative exchanges between hobbyist game designers, Fantasy fiction, and Picaresque Literature via the rogue archetype. These exchanges demonstrate a turn towards nuanced narrative-supporting mechanics, complex player character development, and including vibrant fantasy cities as settings for adventures in D&amp;D, and TRPGs more broadly, influenced by Picaresque Literature.

David Matencio Durán

Thomas Apperley

Dungeons, Dragons, and Rogues: How Picaresque Literature Shaped the Thief Class in <i>Dungeons &amp; Dragons</i>

地牢、龙与流氓：流浪汉文学如何塑造了《龙与地下城》中的盗贼职业

Videogames, like other new media, reflect and shape culture and are influenced by societal attitude shifts. We conducted a qualitative close-reading analysis of queer representation in the AAA historical-fiction series Assassin's Creed and the historical antecedents thereof to explore (a) the traditional marginalization of queer-identifying folks in (b) the context of growing societal acceptance within the (inter)national zeitgeist. In our examination of the developer's reaction operationalized as observable shifts in developers’ design choices, we observed an increase in representation that aligns with the shift in social attitudes toward queer folks over the last 15 years. With respect to the historical antecedents, we discovered a misalignment between the in-game portrayal of queer folks and acceptance thereof vis a vis the available historical record.

Jess Root-Williams

Taylor M. Kessner

Jeremy Bernier

Representation and Its Historical Antecedents in New Media: The Queer-ious Case of <i>Assassin's Creed</i>

新媒体中的再现及其历史先例：《刺客信条》中的酷儿案例

The aim of this article is to present an updated version of our previous theory of gameplay. “Gameplay” is a term often used without a clear definition or consistent application. In this article, we propose categorizing gameplay into three distinct yet interconnected layers: the first emphasizing temporality, the second highlighting spatiality, and the third pinpointing emotion as anchor point. Our model and understanding are influenced by the philosophy of phenomenology, particularly Husserl's objective examination of the first-person perspective in perceptual experience—a commendable approach for blending formalism with real-time experience without resorting to subjectivism or psychologism. We offer an analytical and methodological framework for understanding gameplay, relying on micro-tensions to elucidate gameplay as a structural entity as well as an experiential phenomenon. As we shall demonstrate, micro-tensions are present within each of the three layers, paving the way for the entirety of gameplay—referred to by gamers as “great gameplay.”

Lasse Juel Larsen

Bo Kampmann Walther

Gameplay 2.0: Toward a New Theory

游戏体验2.0：迈向新理论

Throughout the history of game studies, intellectual debates have sought to identify scholars have reflected on the essential features of games. In the past decade, these discussions have extended beyond academia to the broader gaming community, where certain genres have been elevated as “real games.” Genres like walking simulators, dating sims, visual novels, and hybrid forms are often at the center of these debates. , criticized for their simplicity, lack of challenge, or sometimes overtly sexual content. Despite this, the popularity of these genres is undeniable: since 2007, over 50,000 titles have been documented on the Visual Novel Database, and thousands of walking simulators are available on Steam and other platforms. Many of these titles also appear on MobyGames and have been referenced as “games” throughout history. In this article, we delve into this vast and often overlooked corpus to examine the qualities that can elevate gameplay to unreal levels.

Abbreviation	Games. Cult.
Journal Impact	2.20
Quartiles(Global)	CULTURAL STUDIES(Q1)

ISSN	1555-4120, 1555-4139
h-index	60

Publication Information	Publisher: SAGE Publications Inc.，Publishing cycle: ，Journal Type: journal，Open Access Journals: No
Basic data	Year of publication: 2006，Proportion of original research papers: 100.00%，Self Citation Rate:16.70%， Gold OA Rate: 27.15%

Games and Culture

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Desire and Delusion: Fetish of Brazilian Favela in Videogame (Mis)representation

Hello, Worlds: A Ludic Theory of Cognition

Proposed Model for Video Game-to-Series Adaptation and Intermedial Translation Based on the Case of Fallout

Dungeons, Dragons, and Rogues: How Picaresque Literature Shaped the Thief Class in Dungeons & Dragons

Representation and Its Historical Antecedents in New Media: The Queer-ious Case of Assassin's Creed

Hello, Worlds: A Ludic Theory of Cognition

Proposed Model for Video Game-to-Series Adaptation and Intermedial Translation Based on the Case of Fallout

Gameplay 2.0: Toward a New Theory

Unreal Games

Dungeons, Dragons, and Rogues: How Picaresque Literature Shaped the Thief Class in Dungeons & Dragons