Mytholudics : games and myth / Dom Ford.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Ford, Dom, author.

Series:

Video Games and the Humanities Series ; 18.

Video Games and the Humanities Series ; v.18

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Video games.

Myth.

Games--Psychological aspects.

Games.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (368 pages) : illustrations

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Berlin, Germany : Walter de Gruyter GmbH, [2025]

Summary:

Games create worlds made of many different elements, but also of rules, systems and structures for how we act in them. So how can we make sense of them? Mytholudics: Games and Myth lays out an approach to understanding games using theories from myth and folklore. Myth is taken here not as an object but as a process, a way of expressing meaning. It works to naturalise arbitrary constellations of signs, to connect things in meaning. Behind the phrase ‘just the way it is’ is a process of mythologization that has cemented it. Mytholudics lays out how this understanding of myth works for the analysis of games. In two sections each analysing five digital games, it then shows how this approach works in practice: one through the lens of heroism and one through monstrosity. These ask questions such as what heroic mythology is constructed in Call of Duty? What do the monsters in The Witcher tell us about the game’s model of the world? How does Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice weave a conflict between Norse and Pictish mythology into one between competing models of seeing mental illness? This method helps to see games and their worlds in the whole. Stories, gameplay, systems, rules, spatial configurations and art styles can all be considered together as contributing to the meaning of the game.

Contents:

Intro

Acknowledgements

Contents

Introduction

What is Myth?

Towards Mytholudics

Heroes

Monsters

Conclusion: Heroes, Monsters and Mytholudics

References

Index.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

Other Format:

Print version :

ISBN:

9783111341743

3111341747

9783111341903

3111341909

OCLC:

1511342241