Board Games as Media

by Paul Booth

Overview

Leading expert Paul Booth explores the growth in popularity of board games today, and unpacks what it means to read a board game. What does a game communicate? How do games play us? And how do we decide which games to play and which are just wastes of cardboard? With little scholarly research in this still-emerging field, Board Games as Media underscores the importance of board games in the ever-evolving world of media.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781501357176
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	01/14/2021
Pages:	296
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Paul Booth is Professor of Communication at DePaul University, USA. Booth's research interests include fandom, new technologies and media, popular culture, and cult media. He is the author of Time on TV (2012), Digital Fandom (2010), and Playing Fans (2014). He has edited Fan Phenomena: Doctor Who (2013), and has published numerous articles on fans, social media, and technology. He is currently enjoying a cup of coffee.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations viii

Acknowledgments x

Introduction: Board Games as Media 1

Part 1 Textual Analysis

1 Meeples, Miniatures, and Cubes: Ludo-Textual Analyses of Board Games 17

2 A Depressing Choose-Your-Own Adventure: The Interactive Potentiality of Board Games 38

3 Colonizing Mars: Ludic Discourse Analysis 58

4 The Designer as Créateur: the Board Game Industry and Constructed Authorship 77

5 The Player as Fan: Ludic Fandom in Board Game Cultures 101

Part 2 Ethnographic Analysis

6 Surveying Board Game Players: Who Plays What… 119

7 …and Why: Examining Motivations and Popularity of Board Games 145

8 Cultural Studies of Games: Diversity and Inclusion in the Board Game Industry and Hobby 167

9 The Epic Adventure of Grundy and Trixie: An Autoethnographic Journey through Gloomhaven 192

Conclusion: The Board Gaming Environment 215

Appendix 1 Survey Questions 227

Appendix 2 Data from Survey 232

Notes 244

References 263

Index 277

Editorial Reviews

The future of media studies lies off the screen. So says Paul Booth in this excellent book on board games, the board game industry, and the designers and players who make up the scene. An essential read for anyone curious about what comes next in media and game studies and those who just yearn to roll the dice.” —Aaron Trammell, Editor-in-Chief, Analog Game Studies

From the Publisher