Final Reflection!

Before this class, I mostly thought about play in the context of childhood development. Psychologists and educators are always talking about how play helps children learn and grow, so that was the framework I brought with me (I took quite a few psych classes in undergrad). I was also interested in video games, but they always felt somewhat inaccessible to me since I had a Macbook.

This class completely expanded the way I think about play and video games. One of the concepts that stuck with me most was Shira Chess’s discussion of play as resistance. I am a far leftist and I have always believed that art is not decorative or secondary to political movements but an essential part of them. Music, literature, film, and other forms of art help us imagine better futures, expand our moral imagination, and sustain us through difficult times. Before this class, however, I had never seriously considered that games and play could serve a similar role. I loved the idea that play itself can be revolutionary. Play creates joy, and joy can be a form of resistance in a world where so many systems would rather see people exhausted, isolated, or defeated.

I experienced some challenges as well. The Critical Plays assignments pushed me outside of my comfort zone because, while I had plenty of experience critically analyzing books, films, and philosophy, etc. I had never applied that same level of analysis to games. Learning how to examine mechanics, systems, and player experiences as cultural experiences/texts required me to develop an entirely new critical lens.

I tried to implement many of these ideas into my own work. In Project 2, I incorporated feminist themes and narratives inspired by Chess’s work. Looking back, I think my approach was a little heavy-handed, but it taught me a lot about how games can communicate ideas through both narrative and mechanics. I left the project with several new ideas for feminist games that I would love to continue exploring in the future (maybe over the next few months as I grapple with post-grad unemployment!). 

Overall, I grew a lot both as a designer and as a player. I no longer see games simply as entertainment products; I see them as cultural artifacts that shape how we think, feel, and imagine the world around us. If I continue working on games, I want to keep experimenting with how play can communicate ideas, build community, and create space for people to imagine different ways of living and relating to one another. 

This was easily one of my favorite classes I have taken in the CS department, and it has fundamentally changed the way I think about games and play! Thanks for everything, and I will definitely be carrying a lot of these lessons forward <3