Depictions of Power
Strategy and Management Games
Will be published approx. on 4. February 2027
Book
Hardback
288 pages
979-8-7651-1187-1 (ISBN)
Description
Depictions of Power draws connections between strategy and management games and their singular depiction of power relationships.
One could say that strategy and management games are the quintessential depictions of power. Rather than being centered on a single character, these games put the players in situations where they have power over other entities or other players. Moreover, narrative contextualization in the genre depicts the player as a leader, manager, governor, general, or even as a god of some sort. As such, they take an implicit or explicit stance on power, through control, agency, identity, ownership, affiliation, or loyalty, for instance.
Depictions of Power explores how power is depicted and/or experienced in strategy and management games through gameplay, narrative, representation, dialogs, mechanics, and gaming systems. Most games overemphasize the agency of the player, but others offer a critical perspective on war or control. Strategy and management games are treated as a unique corpora to underline their similarities and go beyond a sole militaristic perspective. This book argues that games must be criticized and questioned, but that they can themselves criticize and question power. As such, they must be explored, analyzed, and contextualized in the history of gameplaying.
Contributors to this collection cover a wide diversity of playing experiences, discussing strategy and management games such as Civilization, Cities: Skylines, Total War, Pharaoh, Command & Conquer, Trader Life Simulator, Riot: Civil Unrest, and The Sims.
One could say that strategy and management games are the quintessential depictions of power. Rather than being centered on a single character, these games put the players in situations where they have power over other entities or other players. Moreover, narrative contextualization in the genre depicts the player as a leader, manager, governor, general, or even as a god of some sort. As such, they take an implicit or explicit stance on power, through control, agency, identity, ownership, affiliation, or loyalty, for instance.
Depictions of Power explores how power is depicted and/or experienced in strategy and management games through gameplay, narrative, representation, dialogs, mechanics, and gaming systems. Most games overemphasize the agency of the player, but others offer a critical perspective on war or control. Strategy and management games are treated as a unique corpora to underline their similarities and go beyond a sole militaristic perspective. This book argues that games must be criticized and questioned, but that they can themselves criticize and question power. As such, they must be explored, analyzed, and contextualized in the history of gameplaying.
Contributors to this collection cover a wide diversity of playing experiences, discussing strategy and management games such as Civilization, Cities: Skylines, Total War, Pharaoh, Command & Conquer, Trader Life Simulator, Riot: Civil Unrest, and The Sims.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
With dust jacket
Illustrations
20 bw illus
Dimensions
Height: 216 mm
Width: 140 mm
Thickness: 25 mm
Weight
454 gr
ISBN-13
979-8-7651-1187-1 (9798765111871)
Copyright in bibliographic data is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or its licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Simon Dor is Associate Professor of Game and Media Studies at Universite du Quebec en Abitibi-Temiscamingue (UQAT), Canada. He teaches game studies, economy game design, and ethics in the video game development program based in Montreal. He is the author of StarCraft: Legacy of the Real-Time Strategy (2014), and has published articles in English and French journals such as Game Studies, Sciences du jeu, and Kinephanos.
Content
Acknowledgements
List of Contributors
Introduction: Depictions of Power, Depictions and Power
Simon Dor (Universite du Quebec en Abitibi-Temiscamingue, Canada)
Section 1: Narrative of Power
1. Power Overwhelming: Exploring Player Agency and Power in StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty
Gregory Blomquist (University of Alberta, Canada)
2. Depictions of Cyberwarfare and Media Manipulation in Command and Conquer
Mark R. Johnson (University of Sydney, Australia)
3. Allegories of Control and Power: The Figure of Personification in Valkyria Chronicles IV and Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Simon Dor and Laurie-Mei Ross Dionne (Universite du Quebec en Abitibi-Temiscamingue, Canada)
Section 2: Business and Management
4. Framework Conditions and Origins of Business Games
Rolf F. Nohr (University of Arts, Braunschweig, Germany)
5. The Horror of Darkest Dungeon's Middle Management
Remi Cayatte (Universite Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier, France)
6. "Instruction Manuals for Life": Operational Games, Risk, and Continual Training in Farocki's Leben BRD
Doug Stark (University of Texas at Arlington, Chapel Hill, USA)
Section 3: Antiquity in Games
7. State Development and Power Systems in Pharaoh (1999) and Nebuchadnezzar (2021)
Briana C. Jackson (American Research Center in Egypt)
8. Culture, Population, and the Simulation of Ancient State Power in Total War
Eduardo Garcia-Molina (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, USA)
Section 4: Power and Nature
9. Uncovering Ecological Power in Cities: Skylines
Lawrence May (University of Auckland, New Zealand)
10. Roles of Nature and Mythologies of Growth in Government Simulation Videogames
Carlos Moreno Azqueta (Universidad de Castilla - La Mancha, Spain)
Section 5: Audiences and Game Communities
11. Cultural Communications in Game Streams: An Examination of the Discourse between Arab Muslim Developers and American Streamers
Lobna Hassan (Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology, Finland) and Vit Sisler (Charles University, Czech Republic)
12. Beneath the Paving Stones of Power, the Heart: Emotional Design in Management and Strategy Games: The Case of Nostalgia
Gael Gilson (Haute Ecole Albert Jacquard, Belgium)
13. Gotta Conquer 'em All!: Playful War in Pokemon Conquest
Gabriel Pierre Dumoulin and Amelie Vallieres (Universite du Quebec a Montreal, Canada)
14. Need for Inclusion of People with Physical Disabilities as a Marginalized Group in The Sims 4
Mia Mohac (Coventry University, UK)
Section 6: Colonization and Contested Spaces
15. Docile(d) Crowds: Analysis of Spaces of Protest in Strategy Video Games
Hamza Bashandy (Universite de Liege, Belgium)
16. "Terra Nullius"?: Representations of Australian History in Civilization VI's Outback Tycoon
Sian Tomkinson (University of Western Australia)
17. State and Corporate Power in the Board Game John Company
Gabriel Monette (Universite du Quebec en Abitibi-Temiscamingue, Canada)
Section 7: Ethnicity and Cultural Stereotypes
18. San Guo Imperialization: Total War: Three Kingdoms (2019), Aesthetic Authenticity, and Platform Imperialism
Matthew Jungsuk Howard (North Carolina State University, USA)
19. Factional History: Tracing the Cultural Coding of Total War: Warhammer 3's "Immortal Empires" Map
Andrew Bailey (York University, UK)
Index
List of Contributors
Introduction: Depictions of Power, Depictions and Power
Simon Dor (Universite du Quebec en Abitibi-Temiscamingue, Canada)
Section 1: Narrative of Power
1. Power Overwhelming: Exploring Player Agency and Power in StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty
Gregory Blomquist (University of Alberta, Canada)
2. Depictions of Cyberwarfare and Media Manipulation in Command and Conquer
Mark R. Johnson (University of Sydney, Australia)
3. Allegories of Control and Power: The Figure of Personification in Valkyria Chronicles IV and Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Simon Dor and Laurie-Mei Ross Dionne (Universite du Quebec en Abitibi-Temiscamingue, Canada)
Section 2: Business and Management
4. Framework Conditions and Origins of Business Games
Rolf F. Nohr (University of Arts, Braunschweig, Germany)
5. The Horror of Darkest Dungeon's Middle Management
Remi Cayatte (Universite Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier, France)
6. "Instruction Manuals for Life": Operational Games, Risk, and Continual Training in Farocki's Leben BRD
Doug Stark (University of Texas at Arlington, Chapel Hill, USA)
Section 3: Antiquity in Games
7. State Development and Power Systems in Pharaoh (1999) and Nebuchadnezzar (2021)
Briana C. Jackson (American Research Center in Egypt)
8. Culture, Population, and the Simulation of Ancient State Power in Total War
Eduardo Garcia-Molina (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, USA)
Section 4: Power and Nature
9. Uncovering Ecological Power in Cities: Skylines
Lawrence May (University of Auckland, New Zealand)
10. Roles of Nature and Mythologies of Growth in Government Simulation Videogames
Carlos Moreno Azqueta (Universidad de Castilla - La Mancha, Spain)
Section 5: Audiences and Game Communities
11. Cultural Communications in Game Streams: An Examination of the Discourse between Arab Muslim Developers and American Streamers
Lobna Hassan (Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology, Finland) and Vit Sisler (Charles University, Czech Republic)
12. Beneath the Paving Stones of Power, the Heart: Emotional Design in Management and Strategy Games: The Case of Nostalgia
Gael Gilson (Haute Ecole Albert Jacquard, Belgium)
13. Gotta Conquer 'em All!: Playful War in Pokemon Conquest
Gabriel Pierre Dumoulin and Amelie Vallieres (Universite du Quebec a Montreal, Canada)
14. Need for Inclusion of People with Physical Disabilities as a Marginalized Group in The Sims 4
Mia Mohac (Coventry University, UK)
Section 6: Colonization and Contested Spaces
15. Docile(d) Crowds: Analysis of Spaces of Protest in Strategy Video Games
Hamza Bashandy (Universite de Liege, Belgium)
16. "Terra Nullius"?: Representations of Australian History in Civilization VI's Outback Tycoon
Sian Tomkinson (University of Western Australia)
17. State and Corporate Power in the Board Game John Company
Gabriel Monette (Universite du Quebec en Abitibi-Temiscamingue, Canada)
Section 7: Ethnicity and Cultural Stereotypes
18. San Guo Imperialization: Total War: Three Kingdoms (2019), Aesthetic Authenticity, and Platform Imperialism
Matthew Jungsuk Howard (North Carolina State University, USA)
19. Factional History: Tracing the Cultural Coding of Total War: Warhammer 3's "Immortal Empires" Map
Andrew Bailey (York University, UK)
Index