Slides on Mary Flanagan's Values at Play

1. VALUESATPLAY
HON 303: GAMES FOR CHANGE
Mary Flanagan and Helen
Nissenbaum, Values at Play in Digital
Games

2. STARTING
ASSUMPTIONS
-“All games express and
embody human values”
-“games provide a compelling
arena where humans play out
their beliefs and ideas”
-“games can serve as cultural
snapshots”
-Elements of games reveal
“the underlying beliefs and
values of their designers and
players”
-Games do not just reflect
values, but can enact values
-Steps can be taken in design
and development to affect/
change values

3. -To enrich our understanding of how social beliefs &
patterns are reflected in norms of “participation, play,
and communication”
-Growth of digital media represents “opportunity and
responsibility” for design community to reflect on
values and change values in games
-Games are “media paradigm” of 21st century and carry
power to shape work, learning, ideas, values,
communities, norms, etc.
WHYSTUDYVALUESINGAMES?

5. WHATAREVALUES?
-Values (“values,” “beliefs,” and “ideas”)
-“values are properties of things and states of affairs that we care
about and strive to attain. They are similar to goals, purposes,
and ends, but usually they possess a higher degree of gravitas
and permanence, and they tend to be more abstract and
general” (5)
-Discuss: goals vs. values
-Values are often ideals (we promote them even as we don’t
always achieve them
-Values take a variety of forms; may be specific to individuals or
groups
-Differences evident in different qualifiers: personal values,
cultural values, religious values, human values, ethical values,
political values, aesthetic values,

7. - Values of designers
- Values of players
- Values of communities
- Values of culture
- Values of technology
- Values of design
WHOSEVALUES?
“the features of a game as bearers of values
emerge in the act of play, dynamically,
depending on the context of play and who is
playing”

8. - Notice the range of verbs used to describe the relationship between values and
games
- In no particular order, they are interested in how games…
express, embody, activate, play out, encode,
challenge, reflect, enact, deny, confront,
challenge, and manipulate
- different values, ideas, and beliefs.
GAMES&VALUES

9. -All technologies—like social practices, systems, institutions—“have
values embedded in them” (8)
-What are the ethical and political properties of technologies?
-“the values expressed in technical systems are a function of their uses
as well as their features and design” (8)
VALUESINTECHNOLOGY

10. “We can do more than simply demonstrate systematic relationships
between technology and values: we can do something about it. If we
accept that technology can embody values, the practical turn allows
designers and producers to consider ethical and political concerns
alongside more typical engineering ideals” (9).
Concept of “conscientious designer”—what does that mean? What
does that look like?
PRACTICALTURN
“conscientious designers consider values
when they design and build systems.”

11. THREEHYBRIDLAYERS
OFGAMES:
-Ludic
-They are games
-Expressive
-They are expressive
art forms
-Technological
-They are
technological engines
that consist of code,
game engines,
mechanics, &
hardware

12. OTHERKEYWORDS
-Systems
-Interaction
-Agency
-Immersion
“digital games offer players a
dynamic engagement with
content through cycles of
effort, attention, and
feedback” (4)
“digital games are particularly
compelling environments in
which players explore and act
based on at least a partial
understanding of a system’s
relational dynamics” (5)

13. EXAMPLES&CASESTUDIES

14. WHATVALUESDOTHEYPROMOTE?

15. -Heuristic: a heuristic process or method (“heuristic:
enabling a person to discover or learn something for
themselves”)
-“a theoretical framework”
-“a method for integrating values in the conception and
design of games”
-“guide for game designers and developers”
VALUESATPLAYHEURISTIC

17. 5 Teams. 5 Minutes. 5 Values. 5 Games.
Rules: Design a game whose core mechanic
“plays out” a specific value.

20. -“there are many elements in a game, and each affects how games
access, represent, and foster particular values” (33)
-Elements are not value neutral; they have cultural, ethical, and political
significance
-15 Elements that together constitute “a game’s semantic architecture,
that is, the way a game generates meanings” (33)
-They describe the framework of 15 categories as “an ontological
breakdown of what ‘makes up’ a game
-Framework designed to help designers located “specific ways in which
values may be conveyed in games” (33)
-Framework also “allows for a nuanced reading of values in relation to
each individual element” (35)
-Elements are analytically distinct, but always need to account for the
relationships among elements and other contextual factors (e.g.,
“variability in players’ values, beliefs, and backgrounds”)
FRAMEWORKOF15GAMEELEMENTS

21. -Narrative premise and
goals
-Characters
-Actions in game
-Player Choice
-Rules for interaction with
other players and
nonplayable characters
-Rules for interaction with
the environment
-Point of view
-Hardware
-Interface
-Game engine and
software
-Context of play
-Rewards
-Strategies
-Game maps
-Aesthetics
FRAMEWORKOF15GAMEELEMENTS

22. CONTEXTOFPLAY

23. GAMEMAPS

24. CHARACTERS

25. RULESFORINTERACTION WITHTHEENVIRONMENT