The social meanings of play sit at odds with norms of responsible and productive adult
conduct. To be “caught” playing as an adult therefore risks embarrassment. Still, many …

The QAnon movement, which gained a lot of traction in recent years, defies categorization: is
it a conspiracy theory, a new mythology, a social movement, a religious cult, or an alternate …

The Paradox of Transgression in Games looks at transgressive games as an aesthetic
experience, tackling how players respond to game content that shocks, disturbs, and …

This article documents how players report the positive discomfort of playing the third-person
military shooter Spec Ops: The Line (Yager Entertainment, 2012), and analyses their …

Digital distribution has enabled game studios to reach global audiences and treat mobile
games as services rather than products, creating novel opportunities to develop value …

This article is an exploration of players' understandings of games that offer moral dilemmas
in order to explore player choice in tandem with game mechanics. We investigate how game …

In contemporary 'post-secular society', videogames like Assassin's Creed, BioShock Infinite
or World of Warcraft are suffused with religious elements. Departing from a critique on …

This article takes a ludological approach to QAnon and investigates the conspiracy
phenomenon as an Alternate Reality Game. Drawing extensively on media reportage of …

Pro-social themes like empathy and wellbeing are gaining popularity within games to
contrast the medium's stigmatised explorations of themes like violence, often to catalyse …

In 'secular'Western societies, religious topics permeate media texts of books, films, series
and games and such texts even inform several religious-spiritual movements. Critically …