What: “’More than a feeling’: Investigating the Historical Context of Empathy Games”

Who: Jennifer Olive, Department of English, Georgia State University

When: October 11, 2017, from 3-4:00 PM

Where: CMII Conference Room #211, 25 Park Place, Georgia State University

Empathy games have been heralded as an Indie response to AAA-blockbuster narratives. While true, this analysis doesn’t do justice to the historical context that enabled these games to succeed. In this session of Playtest, we will examine part of this history and its connection to the gamification movement and violence-in-videogames debate that preceded it. We will be playing Papo & Yo, SPENT, and Liyla and the Shadows of War.

Jennifer Olive is a Ph.D. candidate in English with a concentration in Literary Studies at Georgia State University. Currently, Jennifer is a Graduate Teaching Assistant for GSU, where she has taught courses in composition for the English Department. Her dissertation looks at the representation of postcolonial trauma in digital media, specifically videogames. For more information, check out her website or follow her on Twitter.