ABSTRACT

This chapter discusses the implications of playing a game to analyze it, and provides an overview of the different sources that can provide us with the information that will help us make better sense of the game. Internet has changed the way in which we access information, it seems that all that we need to know is just a few mouse clicks away. Digital games change depending on who is playing, but its digital components, where the computer provides a dynamic system whose behavior is predictable, make it relatively easier to reproduce some of the play situations. The methods to obtain information for the analysis are closer to anthropological research, specifically what we call participant observation, where the researcher is also part of the social group. The special status of non-digital games does not mean that we cannot study board games, card games, playground games, or live-action role-playing games.