The Well-Read Game - (Playful Thinking) by Tracy Fullerton & Matthew Farber (Paperback)

About the Book

"This book is about a distinctly new approach to using games in classrooms, one that focuses on the way in which they can act as multimodal texts that engage players - specifically adolescent students - in learning around universal themes and rich literary experiences"--

Book Synopsis

How players evoke personal and subjective meanings through a new theory of player response.

In The Well-Read Game, Tracy Fullerton and Matthew Farber explore the experiences we have when we play games: not the outcomes of play or the aesthetics of formal game structures but the ephemeral and emotional experiences of being in play. These are the private stories we tell ourselves as we play, the questions we ask, and our reactions to the game's intent. These experiences are called "readings" because they involve so many of the aspects of engaging with literary, cinematic, and other expressive texts. A game that is experienced in such a way can be called "well-read," rather than, or as well as, "well-played," because of the personal, interpretive nature of that experience and the way in which it relates to our reading of texts of all kinds.

The concept of the "well-read game" exists at the convergence of literary, media, and play theories--specifically, the works of Louise Rosenblatt's reader-response theory, Brian Upton's situational game theory, Tracy Fullerton's playcentric design theory, and Bernie DeKoven's well-played game philosophy. Each of these theories, from their own perspective, challenges notions of a separate, objective, or authorial meaning in a text and underscores the richness that arises from the varied responses of readers, who coauthor the meaning of each text through their active engagement with it. When taken together, these theories point to a richer understanding of what a game is and how we might better value our experiences with games to become more thoughtful readers of their essential meanings.

Review Quotes

"The Well-Read Game offers a groundbreaking theory of interpretive interactivity where readers become players and players become readers. Finally, a book has seamlessly melded literacy, literature, and gaming and placed them at the heart of education for creativity and critical thinking."
--James Paul Gee, Regents Professor Emeritus, Arizona State University; author of New Digital Media and Learning as an Emerging Area and "Worked Examples" as One Way Forward

"The Well-Read Game is an essential read if you're among the growing group of people who understand that video games are as expressive an art form as literature and cinema."
--Brian Upton, author of The Aesthetic of Play and Situational Game Design; designer of Rainbow Six and Ghost Recon

"This book reveals the beauty of games as texts to be read deeply. Fullerton and Farber show how thoughtful play can unlock personal insights and transform gaming into a meaningful, reflective practice."
--Paul Darvasi, CEO and co-founder, Gold Bug Interactive

"Fullerton and Farber propose an alternative to "systems thinking"-based approaches to games, instead calling for self-reflection and metacognition in play.... The call for more social and more shared experiences is welcome."
--Choice

"With the foundation provided in The Well-Read Game, players now have strong guidelines to experience their games to the fullest."
--The Journal of Popular Culture

About the Author

Tracy Fullerton, an experimental game designer, is Professor and Director of the Game Innovation Lab at the University of Southern California Games Program.

Matthew Farber is Associate Professor of Educational Technology and Codirector of the Gaming SEL Lab at the University of Northern Colorado.