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Session Name:

The Power of the Abstract

Overview:

There's a pervasive belief in the industry that game design is a craft which has been more-or-less linearly refined and improved upon for the last 30 years. The industry has come to form so deeply around its accepted norms that any games which might work outside of those norms are heavily marginalized or seen as "bad design." This works greatly to marginalize designers who trying to challenge the medium and use their games as tools to express more personal and/or critical ideas. We'll discuss why these abstract, strange and "unprofessional" approaches to design and aesthetics are actually a secret strength of the medium that should be embraced as powerful and progressive communicative tools. We'll also examine why they are, in fact, far more powerful artistic tools than literal representation, or already deeply-entrenched approaches in the game industry and game culture.

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  • GDC 2015
  • Liz Ryerson
  • ella guro
  • free content
  • Design
  • Design