ON THE LOOKOUT FOR FAIR GAME – ASPECTS OF (IM)MORALITY IN BOARD GAMES

• Authors: Britta Stöckmann

Title variants

PL

W poszukiwaniu gry fair – (nie)moralne aspekty gier planszowych

• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

The discussion about the – usually negative – influence on the morals of young gamers is a familiar one when talking about computer and video games. Interestingly enough, however, board games have not fallen suspect of morally corrupting youngsters, although there are hardly any board games on the market which pursue ethically high purposes, while many can be found displaying or triggering ways of behaviour which could be classified as ethically or politically incorrect. This appears to be even more remarkable when bearing in mind that games can be seen as cultural assets and an important means to develop one’s personality. The intention of this article is to try and analyse this apparent paradox by investigating which different kinds of immorality can come into play under which conditions. Special attention will be paid to the board games of the family game type. Finally an attempt will be made to find an answer why immorality is not only attractive but plays a vital role in board games and why these games, nevertheless, unlike computer games, are principally perceived in a positive manner.

Keywords

EN

BOARD GAMES; LUDOLOGY; GAMES RESEARCH; GAME STUDIES; PEDAGOGY; IMMORALITY IN BOARD GAMES

• Publisher: Polskie Towarzystwo Badania Gier (Games Research Association of Poland)
• Journal: Homo Ludens
• Year: 2012
• Issue: 1(4)
• Pages: 209-228

Contributors

author

Britta Stöckmann

• Institut für Slavistik der Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, Germany

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