Focus on experience as the core of human consciousness and what it means to experience video games. Develop an understanding of the complexity of experience as a philosophical, psychological, and personal concept. Practice an awareness of (inner) experiences and their articulation. Explore game analysis and methodology as a task challenged by but also benefit from an awareness of play as a subjective practice.By the end of the semester, you will be knowledgeable about (personal) experience as the central phenomenon of a game as well as the necessities and challenges of heeding this principle in practical and academic work.

Synchronous weekly class meetings and block sessions that may take place off campus.

The seminar gives students an overview of core works discussing (subjective) experience and its representation in game studies.

Students ought to have completed the lecture "Game Studies" (780.221) before participating in this advanced class.

The seminar draws from various artistic and intellectual sources. All texts, mainly in the shape of theoretical secondary reading, are provided on Moodle.Students are expected to buy or otherwise familiarise themselves with the primary works relevant to their assignments.

The seminar features four central assessments. Students mustwrite a personal essaywrite a homework paperattend an oral examactively participate in the seminar

Personal essay: write a 1000-word-text on your subjective insights of a joint excursion that follows Situationist practices of walking and ambience reflection.(Worth 25% of the final mark)Homework paper: write a 4000-word-text on a videogame that considers subjective play experiences as much as academic resources and objective communication.(Worth 25% of the final mark)Oral exam: meet with your lecturer and show the ability to freely discuss key texts of the seminar, class discussions, and personal reflections.(Worth 25% of the final mark)Participation: regularly attend the seminar and participate in homework exercises and pop quizzes as demanded.(Worth 25% of the final mark)Detailed assignment instructions are provided during the first seminar week.

All assignments must fulfill minimal standards to be considered for a positive evaluation. They mustdisplay a seminar-appropriate command of English. contain formal features as defined by their assignment instructions.reference all their sources correctly.rely only on academic sources unless warranted by specific research interests.apply rigorous critical scrutiny to the quality of all of your sources.use the Chicago Manual of Style Author/Date format for your references.Your lecturer/supervisor may reject your assignment if these criteria are not met. In this case, you get one opportunity to redo your assignment in order to achieve a passing grade. Assignments subsequently failing even the minimum standard receive a 5/F (fail grade).If an assignment fulfills these minimal standards, then the following factors are considered for grading:Idea (connection to assignment, quality of main idea, reasonability…)Coherency (logic in argument, structure, transition between contents…)References (quality, quantity, and application of sources considered, evidence…)Style (Correct usage of key terminology, fittingly abstract or concrete…)Expression (academic tone, grammar, syntax, spelling…)A severely flawed assignment in one or several of these areas is graded as 5/F (fail grade).Attendance during the first session is mandatory for seminar participation.General remark on our code of conduct and plagiarism policy:Plagiarism, including the use of AI tools to generate content for assignments, and cheating lead to expulsion from class.Severe violation of the GSE Code of Conduct leads to expulsion from class.