LUDOLOGY--Ludology Page on PHD&D.org
A sophisticated term for "Game Studies" and comes from the Latin "ludus" for game and Greek "logos" for knowledge. Thus ludology refers to the study of or knowledge of games. Ludology is a massive field in which to study games. To be a ludologist might mean one looks at the playing and mechanics of games, the cultures that form in the playing of games, the players themselves, the history of games, the design of games, and may integrate with other academic disciplines in uncovering findings (e.g. anthropology, sociology, economics, psychology, mathematics, linguistics, communication, or history). With the advent of video games, ludology moved from the realm of historical and anthropological basics to blossoming into the complex and encompassing field it is today which explores not only video games, but also tabletop games, board games, sports, and other gaming forms.
It is argued that there are three main approaches to ludology. The social science approach looks at how games and people interact. The humanities approach explores meanings derived from games. The engineering approach tends to be an electronic gaming phenomenon. As ludology continues to emerge, there will be more approaches borrowed from other fields and utilized to make sense of games. Currently there exists debates as to how textual analysis and narratology relate to the field and if they should be seen as separate, complimentary, or integrated fields of study in ludology.
Notable Ludologists include:
Paul G. Brewster--Folklorist of Ludology and Games
R. Callois
Gonzalo Frasca--A professor at Universidad ORT, Uruguay
J. Huizinga--(1949) Homo ludens: A study of the play element in culture
Jesper Juul--Associate Professor at The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts--The School of Design and a Visiting Associate Professor at MIT in Comparative Media Studies/Writing
Author: Brad Burenheide, 18 April 2018
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A sophisticated term for "Game Studies" and comes from the Latin "ludus" for game and Greek "logos" for knowledge. Thus ludology refers to the study of or knowledge of games. Ludology is a massive field in which to study games. To be a ludologist might mean one looks at the playing and mechanics of games, the cultures that form in the playing of games, the players themselves, the history of games, the design of games, and may integrate with other academic disciplines in uncovering findings (e.g. anthropology, sociology, economics, psychology, mathematics, linguistics, communication, or history). With the advent of video games, ludology moved from the realm of historical and anthropological basics to blossoming into the complex and encompassing field it is today which explores not only video games, but also tabletop games, board games, sports, and other gaming forms.
It is argued that there are three main approaches to ludology. The social science approach looks at how games and people interact. The humanities approach explores meanings derived from games. The engineering approach tends to be an electronic gaming phenomenon. As ludology continues to emerge, there will be more approaches borrowed from other fields and utilized to make sense of games. Currently there exists debates as to how textual analysis and narratology relate to the field and if they should be seen as separate, complimentary, or integrated fields of study in ludology.
Notable Ludologists include:
Paul G. Brewster--Folklorist of Ludology and Games
R. Callois
Gonzalo Frasca--A professor at Universidad ORT, Uruguay
J. Huizinga--(1949) Homo ludens: A study of the play element in culture
Jesper Juul--Associate Professor at The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts--The School of Design and a Visiting Associate Professor at MIT in Comparative Media Studies/Writing
Author: Brad Burenheide, 18 April 2018
Return to Glossary Page
Return to Home Page