<![CDATA[Plumbing Game Studies]]>173dffe1-1b2b-549c-87f8-2d76433df79cThu, 13 Nov 2025 14:00:18 +0000Captivate.fmGraham Culbertsonhttps://artwork.captivate.fm/b853cb27-8b5a-4822-834a-b5819bd42b9d/cedVNCrD8_xAB1-_OruaxB8q.jpegPlumbing Game StudiesGraham CulbertsonGraham CulbertsonPhilosophy is like plumbing for ideas - it makes connections and keeps everything flowing. In this podcast, Graham and his guests are doing some philosophical plumbing for game studies. We'll be asking questions like: Why are philosophers always talking about games? Is philosophy itself a game? How can we use games to understand philosophy - and how can we use philosophy to understand games? This podcast will use philosophy to study games and games to study philosophy. Anyone interested in philosophy, games, and how they interact should enjoy it! Remember: the unexamined game is not worth playinghttps://do-things-with-words.captivate.fmtrueepisodicnopodcastChapel Hill, NC, USAPlaying the Part in Japanese Video Games -- Rachael HutchinsonPlaying the Part in Japanese Video Games -- Rachael HutchinsonThis episode is co-hosted by David Hall, PhD Candidate in ECL at UNC.

David and I are joined by Rachael Hutchinson, Professor in Japanese Studies and Game Studies at the University of Delaware, to discuss what it means to play and research Japanese video games from a non-Japanese perspective. Navigating topics such as the deployment of aesthetic forms and grammars, regionally and linguistically specific jokes, and references to Japanese history and art within video games, we consider the importance of recognizing how these games play with their cultural context and the challenges that face researchers outside that context in identifying when they do so.

]]>This episode is co-hosted by David Hall, PhD Candidate in ECL at UNC.

David and I are joined by Rachael Hutchinson, Professor in Japanese Studies and Game Studies at the University of Delaware, to discuss what it means to play and research Japanese video games from a non-Japanese perspective. Navigating topics such as the deployment of aesthetic forms and grammars, regionally and linguistically specific jokes, and references to Japanese history and art within video games, we consider the importance of recognizing how these games play with their cultural context and the challenges that face researchers outside that context in identifying when they do so.

]]>a0bbcb32-e95a-4664-969a-2bdde82b67eaThu, 13 Nov 2025 09:00:00 -050001:07:41truefull113131The Meta of Free to Play Games -- Donald MacKenzieThe Meta of Free to Play Games -- Donald MacKenzieSociologist Donald MacKenzie joins me to discuss his recent article in the London Review of Books, "Hey Big Spender: What Your Smartphone Knows About You."

Game Studies rarely focuses on phone games - but billions of people are playing them. And they are mostly free. So getting you to pay for them is another game entirely.

https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v46/n16/donald-mackenzie/hey-big-spender

]]>Sociologist Donald MacKenzie joins me to discuss his recent article in the London Review of Books, "Hey Big Spender: What Your Smartphone Knows About You."

Game Studies rarely focuses on phone games - but billions of people are playing them. And they are mostly free. So getting you to pay for them is another game entirely.

https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v46/n16/donald-mackenzie/hey-big-spender

]]>f63f9e27-b30f-4cfe-b048-b42ec9719302Thu, 13 Mar 2025 09:00:00 -050040:16truefull112121Adapting The Lord of the Rings as Trick-Taking -- Bryan BornmuellerAdapting The Lord of the Rings as Trick-Taking -- Bryan BornmuellerGame designer Bryan Bornmueller joins me to discuss his new game The Fellowship of the Ring: The Trick Taking Game. This game pushes narratology and ludology together in a way I had never seen before: an adaptation of a story in which trick-taking (the abstract mechanic from bridge, spades, and hearts) captures the soul of a literary work. Bryan and I discuss how he took these two incredibly popular yet disparate things and combined them into one narrative game.

As of publishing, I believe this game is in print. You can find it here: https://store.asmodee.com/products/the-fellowship-of-the-ring-trick-taking-game

]]>Game designer Bryan Bornmueller joins me to discuss his new game The Fellowship of the Ring: The Trick Taking Game. This game pushes narratology and ludology together in a way I had never seen before: an adaptation of a story in which trick-taking (the abstract mechanic from bridge, spades, and hearts) captures the soul of a literary work. Bryan and I discuss how he took these two incredibly popular yet disparate things and combined them into one narrative game.

As of publishing, I believe this game is in print. You can find it here: https://store.asmodee.com/products/the-fellowship-of-the-ring-trick-taking-game

]]>9c25c4bd-6bac-47c9-8cf6-719b65621affThu, 27 Feb 2025 05:00:00 -050038:19truefull111111The Malaise of Modern Video Games -- Simon ParkinThe Malaise of Modern Video Games -- Simon ParkinSimon Parkin, host of the podcast My Perfect Console and contributing writer (mostly on video games) to The New Yorker, joins Plumbing Game Studies to talk about his recent NYTimes article on modern video games. (Paywalls on both articles - no paywall on My Perfect Console though!)

Simon and I discuss the difference between modern video games and the console games of the previous decades, especially the relationship between art, commerce, and addiction.

]]>Simon Parkin, host of the podcast My Perfect Console and contributing writer (mostly on video games) to The New Yorker, joins Plumbing Game Studies to talk about his recent NYTimes article on modern video games. (Paywalls on both articles - no paywall on My Perfect Console though!)

Simon and I discuss the difference between modern video games and the console games of the previous decades, especially the relationship between art, commerce, and addiction.

]]>48effa46-c821-4322-923a-975251e62754Thu, 23 Jan 2025 11:45:00 -050046:18truefull110101A Board Game Whose Rules Will Never be Known -- Amabel HollandA Board Game Whose Rules Will Never be Known -- Amabel HollandBoard game designer Amabel Holland joins me to discuss her recent board game The City of Six Moons. City of Six Moons isn't an ordinary game - the game is presented as an alien object, and the rules are in an unknown language. Amabel joins me to talk about what this means for games, rules, systems, communication, and knowledge itself. Along the way we also discuss one of her key design influences: the filmmaker Rainer Werner Fassbinder.

Checkout Amabel's video essay on rules as play: https://youtu.be/VDjK1jX93yM?si=RAWLAFzETNJpw7cM

You can see Amabel's games at her company's website, Hollandspiele: https://hollandspiele.com/

You can read the New Yorker profile of her here: https://www.newyorker.com/culture/annals-of-inquiry/the-personal-political-art-of-board-game-design

And you can browse the Criterion Channel's collection of Fassbinder films here: https://www.criterionchannel.com/directed-by-rainer-werner-fassbinder

]]>Board game designer Amabel Holland joins me to discuss her recent board game The City of Six Moons. City of Six Moons isn't an ordinary game - the game is presented as an alien object, and the rules are in an unknown language. Amabel joins me to talk about what this means for games, rules, systems, communication, and knowledge itself. Along the way we also discuss one of her key design influences: the filmmaker Rainer Werner Fassbinder.

Checkout Amabel's video essay on rules as play: https://youtu.be/VDjK1jX93yM?si=RAWLAFzETNJpw7cM

You can see Amabel's games at her company's website, Hollandspiele: https://hollandspiele.com/

You can read the New Yorker profile of her here: https://www.newyorker.com/culture/annals-of-inquiry/the-personal-political-art-of-board-game-design

And you can browse the Criterion Channel's collection of Fassbinder films here: https://www.criterionchannel.com/directed-by-rainer-werner-fassbinder

]]>85194499-7d3e-4305-9c57-0f4f27fe0586Tue, 19 Nov 2024 05:00:00 -050048:38truefull1991The Emulation Game of Japanese Culture -- Morgan PitelkaThe Emulation Game of Japanese Culture -- Morgan PitelkaThis episode is co-hosted by David Hall, PhD Candidate in ECL at UNC. David and I are joined by Morgan Pitelka, Professor of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies and of History at UNC - Chapel Hill, joins us to discuss representations of the early modern period in Japan, video games and otherwise. Over a discussion ranging from 8th century historiography through responses to the 3/11 disaster, we chart a broad historical outline of Japanese cultural production practices as the context out of which video games emerge in the latter part of the 20th century. 

]]>This episode is co-hosted by David Hall, PhD Candidate in ECL at UNC. David and I are joined by Morgan Pitelka, Professor of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies and of History at UNC - Chapel Hill, joins us to discuss representations of the early modern period in Japan, video games and otherwise. Over a discussion ranging from 8th century historiography through responses to the 3/11 disaster, we chart a broad historical outline of Japanese cultural production practices as the context out of which video games emerge in the latter part of the 20th century. 

]]>7a95ef3a-a20c-42de-a060-331a99da7169Wed, 06 Nov 2024 10:10:00 -050001:12:50truefull18811.7 Graeber's Fun -- Aris Politopoulos1.7 Graeber's Fun -- Aris PolitopoulosAris Politopoulos joins me to discuss David Graeber's essay "What's the Point if We Can't Have Fun?"

We also discuss Aaron Trammel's recent book Repairing Play, which you can find here: https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262545273/repairing-play/

For more from Aris and to learn about his work at Leiden University, you can check out his appearance on my other podcast: https://player.captivate.fm/episode/23e2e876-b682-4df1-906e-77d15129dbe2/

]]>Aris Politopoulos joins me to discuss David Graeber's essay "What's the Point if We Can't Have Fun?"

We also discuss Aaron Trammel's recent book Repairing Play, which you can find here: https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262545273/repairing-play/

For more from Aris and to learn about his work at Leiden University, you can check out his appearance on my other podcast: https://player.captivate.fm/episode/23e2e876-b682-4df1-906e-77d15129dbe2/

]]>936eb606-cb4b-433f-ab87-d925e3c4f4d7Thu, 08 Aug 2024 05:00:00 -050001:02:58truefull17711.6 Huizinga's Homo Ludens -- Martin Roth1.6 Huizinga's Homo Ludens -- Martin RothMartin Roth, of the Ritsumeikan Center for Game Studies at Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto, joins me to discuss Homo Ludens, Johan Huizinga's 1938 study of play and culture. Martin and I discuss the way that Homo Ludens can be considered the first "game studies" book, but also all of the ways that it is more complicated and surprising than its reputation as a game studies classic attests.

]]>Martin Roth, of the Ritsumeikan Center for Game Studies at Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto, joins me to discuss Homo Ludens, Johan Huizinga's 1938 study of play and culture. Martin and I discuss the way that Homo Ludens can be considered the first "game studies" book, but also all of the ways that it is more complicated and surprising than its reputation as a game studies classic attests.

]]>0391be73-83b1-487d-8a35-c3342c9875f4Mon, 22 Jul 2024 10:45:00 -050001:02:44truefull16611.5 Agon and Ancient Greek Society -- David Potter1.5 Agon and Ancient Greek Society -- David PotterHistorian David Potter joins me to discuss the concept of agon, or competitive play, and how it animated everything in ancient Greek society from sports to education to politics to art. And Plato's The Republic, often considered the foundation of Western philosophy, was an attempt to end the agonistic nature of society.

]]>Historian David Potter joins me to discuss the concept of agon, or competitive play, and how it animated everything in ancient Greek society from sports to education to politics to art. And Plato's The Republic, often considered the foundation of Western philosophy, was an attempt to end the agonistic nature of society.

]]>bb6ee9fe-e39b-4fd5-b1bb-6864bc829a40Thu, 11 Jul 2024 05:00:00 -050041:54truefull15511.4 Maria Lugones (and David Graeber) -- Miguel Sicart1.4 Maria Lugones (and David Graeber) -- Miguel SicartMiguel Sicart, author of Playing Software, joins me for a playful, even anarchist discussion which was supposed to be about the work of Maria Lugones but ended up being about Lugones, Graeber, Almodóvar, Maradona, and much more.

You can find Miguel's work here: https://miguelsicart.net/

]]>Miguel Sicart, author of Playing Software, joins me for a playful, even anarchist discussion which was supposed to be about the work of Maria Lugones but ended up being about Lugones, Graeber, Almodóvar, Maradona, and much more.

You can find Miguel's work here: https://miguelsicart.net/

]]>198d2047-ca92-4fc2-bcc1-cb19f28129bcThu, 27 Jun 2024 05:00:00 -050001:02:10truefull14411.3 Bernard Suits' The Grasshopper - C. Thi Nguyen1.3 Bernard Suits' The Grasshopper - C. Thi NguyenThi Nguyen joins me to discuss The Grasshopper, a work which takes up Wittgenstein's challenge to define a game and does so in a very productive way. Thi and I discuss the Suitsian definition of a game, how it can redefine not just our sense of games but also the meaning of life, and what this definition of games means for our understanding of agency.

We conclude by discussing María Lugones' theory of play, which will be the subject of my next episode with Miguel Sicart.

You can find more from Thi here: https://objectionable.net/

]]>Thi Nguyen joins me to discuss The Grasshopper, a work which takes up Wittgenstein's challenge to define a game and does so in a very productive way. Thi and I discuss the Suitsian definition of a game, how it can redefine not just our sense of games but also the meaning of life, and what this definition of games means for our understanding of agency.

We conclude by discussing María Lugones' theory of play, which will be the subject of my next episode with Miguel Sicart.

You can find more from Thi here: https://objectionable.net/

]]>a0fdd703-f483-4252-94d0-b2fbfb92c182Thu, 09 May 2024 09:10:00 -050001:07:21truefull1331Schopenhauer on Using Games Against Anxiety (Minigame 2)Schopenhauer on Using Games Against Anxiety (Minigame 2)Why do you feel anxious, according to Schopenhauer?

Excess energy!

What should you do about it?

Play a game!

]]>Why do you feel anxious, according to Schopenhauer?

Excess energy!

What should you do about it?

Play a game!

]]>06792ab8-20f3-4e94-a597-0dd259215527Tue, 23 Apr 2024 05:00:00 -050021:19truebonusSeeing Like a Game -- C. Thi NguyenSeeing Like a Game -- C. Thi NguyenPhilosopher of games C. Thi Nguyen joins me to discuss his current work on the intersection of anarchism and games studies. The conversation was so much fun that I started this podcast to continue exploring this topic.

For more from Thi, here's his website: https://objectionable.net/

]]>Philosopher of games C. Thi Nguyen joins me to discuss his current work on the intersection of anarchism and games studies. The conversation was so much fun that I started this podcast to continue exploring this topic.

For more from Thi, here's his website: https://objectionable.net/

]]>50b297ab-a5e1-494b-aaef-469a55580d65Wed, 03 Apr 2024 05:00:00 -050001:11:15truebonus1.2: Wittgenstein and Game Definitions --Jonne Arjoranta1.2: Wittgenstein and Game Definitions --Jonne ArjorantaJonne Arjoranta the of Centre of Excellence in Game Culture Studies joins me to talk about games and definitions in Ludwig Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations. You can find Jonne's articles on the topics below:

"Game Definitions - A Wittgensteinian Approach"

https://gamestudies.org/1401/articles/arjoranta

"How to Define Games and Why We Need to" - https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40869-019-00080-6

]]>Jonne Arjoranta the of Centre of Excellence in Game Culture Studies joins me to talk about games and definitions in Ludwig Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations. You can find Jonne's articles on the topics below:

"Game Definitions - A Wittgensteinian Approach"

https://gamestudies.org/1401/articles/arjoranta

"How to Define Games and Why We Need to" - https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40869-019-00080-6

]]>47521ebe-343d-412e-bb75-16d6a4e49309Thu, 28 Mar 2024 05:00:00 -050049:17truefull1331Mario, Roguelites, and Nietzsche's Eternal Recurrence (Minigame 1)Mario, Roguelites, and Nietzsche's Eternal Recurrence (Minigame 1)How would you feel if you had to live life over and over again? Would it be like playing Slay the Spire? Or maybe Super Mario Bros?

]]>How would you feel if you had to live life over and over again? Would it be like playing Slay the Spire? Or maybe Super Mario Bros?

]]>8a248156-88d2-48ce-b25e-efd7cceeb2f3Fri, 22 Mar 2024 17:15:00 -050014:30truefull12211.1: Philosophical Plumbing and Games of Truth1.1: Philosophical Plumbing and Games of TruthThis episode of How to Do Things with Games begins with Mary Midgley’s 1974 question: “Why do philosophers talk about games so much?” Well, why do they (she continues)? I’m not sure, but I’m sure there’s work that needs to be done on the philosophy of games, philosophical infrastructure that can, like plumbing, help ideas flow.

I also discuss the difference between analytic and continental philosophy, the way that philosophy itself is a game, and whether or not Ludwig Wittgenstein helps or hurts us to create some philosophical plumbing:

References:


]]>This episode of How to Do Things with Games begins with Mary Midgley’s 1974 question: “Why do philosophers talk about games so much?” Well, why do they (she continues)? I’m not sure, but I’m sure there’s work that needs to be done on the philosophy of games, philosophical infrastructure that can, like plumbing, help ideas flow.

I also discuss the difference between analytic and continental philosophy, the way that philosophy itself is a game, and whether or not Ludwig Wittgenstein helps or hurts us to create some philosophical plumbing:

References:


]]>5f0b5412-3e4c-4f5d-a1fd-96cc763aae93Thu, 07 Mar 2024 09:00:00 -050031:12truefull1111