In this course students will learn about the video, computer, and mobile games among many others in a cross-cultural and cross-disciplinary perspective. The focus will be on the sociocultural, political, economic and technological contexts and aspects of interactive media, especially games and gaming as well as in the games and among players. A particular attention will be given to the aesthetics of games and how games can be used as a creative cultural force in and outside the gaming industry.

Students will be familiarised with complex philosophical issues that pertain both to imaginative worlds produced by human psyche and to the real world reproduced in fictional narratives. The course will cover many case studies of selected games, while at the same time opening up holistically gameworlds to diverse interests and queries.

Students will develop an in-depth understanding of games and gaming cultures. They will learn about the psychological effects of games, politics and economics embedded in gaming structures, philosophy in the games, and the historical development of games as well as potential futures of games. The course will equip students to engage with games critically and develop a nuanced in-depth understanding of games in a larger sociocultural contexts as makers, players and theorists.