It's a long-overdue text, and Flanagan manages well to take the lens of play over the pages of art history. Indeed, the book presents itself as a surefire exercise in 're-', it re-contextualizes games, play and the history of the arts, and in doing so, teases out many artworks from the art historical canon for use as ripe examples in the discussion of games.
I liked Flanagans idea of games as a kind of 'social technology', something we use to communicate and interact with other human beings. Whether it's chalk on the ground or pixels on screen, games do tend to foster a kind of sociable interaction. But what is being discussed? Games can be emblematic of the design technology on which they are based, but the content within the game may also trigger a deeper contemplation.
Throughout the book, Flanagan presents us with several tools that artists use - namely, subversion, disruption, and intervention - and these serve as a backbone upon which various artworks are investigated, and through which games tend to verge closer towards being considered art. Activist games and activist game design is also explored (again calling to mind Bogost), focusing on the social, political and educational instances of games.
Flanagan moves through explorations of the Rococo and Dutch 'House Play', with the first chapter focusing centrally on doll-play and doll houses - a femisinist (and later, psychoanalytic) exploration she carries over into screen games such as Little Computer People (Activision) and The Sims (Maxis).
Little Computer People
