Who I am and what I do
Looking for a bio (long, short)?Looking for photos of me?Want my curriculum vitae?Trying to contact me? Dr. Ian Bogost is an award-winning author and game designer whose work focuses on videogames and computational media. He is Ivan Allen College Distinguished Chair in Media Studies and Professor of Interactive Computing at the Georgia Institute of Technology, where he also holds an… read more
A first date simulator. Distributed in vol 1 of the Independent Games Collection.
Sweaty Palms is a First Date Simulator. Players take on the role of a nervous guy or girl trying to allure their date at the movies. The game is an attempt to demonstrate the potential for abstract, expressive games on a small scale. While that might sound trite and obvious these days, it wasn’t so common when the game was… read more
An Approach to Videogame Criticism
This book is available in digital or physical format. Buy from Amazon A book about comparative videogame criticism: games, philosophy, literature, and art. In Unit Operations, Ian Bogost argues that similar principles underlie both literary theory and computation, proposing a literary-technical theory that can be used to analyze particular videogames. Moreover, this approach can be applied beyond videogames: Bogost suggests… read more
In Games & Culture 1:1 (2006).
This article explores comparative criticism and videogame software development through thef igure of the bricoleur, the handyman who assembles units of preexisting meaning to form new structures. An intersection of these two domains — what the author calls comparative videogame criticism –suggests a more intimate interrelation between criticism and production. The author offers a critique of functionalist approaches to videogame… read more
On videogames as art. From the IGDA Ivory Tower Column.
When it comes to industry and academic collaboration, I can say with certainty that both sides are dealing in good faith; all of us are confident that some real benefit will come from cooperation. But so far, most talk about collaboration has focused on foreseeable ends. Games are big business, so both publishers and developers need to keep their eyes… read more