How Board Games Rediscovered Imagination, Sociality, and Play

Board games have, for a long time, been overshadowed by the rise of digital entertainment. In an age of constant feedback loops and the fraying of social connective tissue, Prof. Gordon Calleja, designer, author, and academic at UM’s Institute of Digital Games, unravels why modern board games can play an essential role in developing our imagination and strengthening social connections, in a time where such connections might be slowly fading.

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Transcendence through Play

Even though philosophers like Kant and Schiller of the aesthetic tradition never had the opportunity to troll some noobs in Call of Duty or slay a dragon in Skyrim, their views on the concept of play can be critical to our understanding of how the player relates to the game world. Dr Daniel Vella explores the work of aesthetic and existential philosophers. Words by Jasper Schellekens. Continue reading