| Description | This talk is a combination of two talks that I had given at GDC based around how culture can shape games and how games in turn can shape culture. We tend to look over early American board games for their perceived simplicity in game designs and systems. Looking back at this history we find that games were used to reaffirm as well as were affected by our value structures. Some of those, such as the negative association with dice, changed how those games looked and functioned. Those value structures can also be changed by the people playing games as well. A great example of this was the rise of Western Chess in medieval Europe and the changing of gender roles. With this understanding it is important for us to be aware of the role culture has on what we are developing. How are the games we make now going to be seen 100 years from now? What values are we challenging or reaffirming? Is what our games saying what we really want to communicate? |
