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User's Guides to Popular Culture How to Play Video Games

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  • Introduction
    • Age of Empires, Souvik Mukherjee
    • Angry Birds, Gregory Steirer and Jeremy Barnes
    • Ball-and-Paddle Games, Michael Z. Newman
    • BioShock Infinite, Mark J. P. Wolf
    • Borderlands, Matthew Thomas Payne and Michael Fleisch
    • Braid, Jesper Juul
    • Clash Royale, Mia Consalvo
    • Cookie Clicker, Sebastian Deterding
    • Counter-Strike, Emma Witkowski
    • Don’t Starve, Christopher Hanson
    • EVE Online, Kelly Bergstrom
    • FIFA, Steven Conway
    • Game Dev Tycoon, Casey O’Donnell
    • Grand Theft Auto V, Harrison Gish
    • Kim Kardashian: Hollywood, Shira Chess
    • King’s Quest, Anastasia Salter
    • LEGO Dimensions, Derek Johnson
    • Leisure Suit Larry, Adrienne Shaw
    • Medal of Honor, Tanner Mirrlees
    • Minecraft, James Newman
    • Miyamoto/Kojima, Jennifer deWinter
    • NBA 2K16, TreaAndrea M. Russworm
    • NES D-pad, David O’Grady
    • Night Trap, Carly A. Kocurek
    • PaRappa the Rapper, Katherine Isbister
    • Papers, Please, Miguel Sicart
    • Pelé’s Soccer, Ian Bogost
    • Planescape: Torment, Evan Torner
    • Pokémon Go, Randy Nichols
    • Quake, Henry Lowood
    • Shovel Knight, John Vanderhoef
    • Sid Meier’s Civilization, Peter Krapp
    • Sniper Elite III, Amanda Phillips
    • Tempest, Judd Ethan Ruggill and Ken S. McAllister
    • Tetris, Rolf F. Nohr
    • The Last of Us, Soraya Murray
    • The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Dan Golding
    • The Queerness and Games Conference, Bonnie Ruberg
    • Tomb Raider, Jessica Aldred
    • Walden, a game, Tracy Fullerton
    • Age of Empires, Souvik Mukherjee
    • Angry Birds, Gregory Steirer and Jeremy Barnes
    • Ball-and-Paddle Games, Michael Z. Newman
    • BioShock Infinite, Mark J. P. Wolf
    • Borderlands, Matthew Thomas Payne and Michael Fleisch
    • Braid, Jesper Juul
    • Clash Royale, Mia Consalvo
    • Cookie Clicker, Sebastian Deterding
    • Counter-Strike, Emma Witkowski
    • Don’t Starve, Christopher Hanson
    • EVE Online, Kelly Bergstrom
    • FIFA, Steven Conway
    • Game Dev Tycoon, Casey O’Donnell
    • Grand Theft Auto V, Harrison Gish
    • Kim Kardashian: Hollywood, Shira Chess
    • King’s Quest, Anastasia Salter
    • LEGO Dimensions, Derek Johnson
    • Leisure Suit Larry, Adrienne Shaw
    • Medal of Honor, Tanner Mirrlees
    • Minecraft, James Newman
    • Miyamoto/Kojima, Jennifer deWinter
    • NBA 2K16, TreaAndrea M. Russworm
    • NES D-pad, David O’Grady
    • Night Trap, Carly A. Kocurek
    • PaRappa the Rapper, Katherine Isbister
    • Papers, Please, Miguel Sicart
    • Pelé’s Soccer, Ian Bogost
    • Planescape: Torment, Evan Torner
    • Pokémon Go, Randy Nichols
    • Quake, Henry Lowood
    • Shovel Knight, John Vanderhoef
    • Sid Meier’s Civilization, Peter Krapp
    • Sniper Elite III, Amanda Phillips
    • Tempest, Judd Ethan Ruggill and Ken S. McAllister
    • Tetris, Rolf F. Nohr
    • The Last of Us, Soraya Murray
    • The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Dan Golding
    • The Queerness and Games Conference, Bonnie Ruberg
    • Tomb Raider, Jessica Aldred
    • Walden, a game, Tracy Fullerton
  • Contributors
  • Acknowledgments

Papers, Please

book User's Guides to Popular Culture How to Play Video Games
by Miguel Sicart

Abstract: Can a video game make a moral argument? In this chapter, Miguel Sicart examines how Papers, Please illustrates the expressive capacities of video games to explore complex moral topics, playfully engaging players not just as consumers but also, and more critically, as reflective ethical beings.

This essay may be found on page 149 of the printed volume.

Permanent Link to this Essay

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