Why Do I Want To Think About Games?

Because I think we all do.

Games matter to us, right? And I don't mean they "matter" like everything matters--everything is something that happens and things that happen matter to some degree--but they matter in that they can and do deeply affect our lives. And they do this is drastically different ways. Games can have storytelling moments that affect us emotionally.


Games can engage us in ways that challenge our problem-solving skills.


Games can be used as teaching tools.


Games can have moments of stunning audio-visual beauty.


And games can be just "fun."

But "fun" is not a concept borne of nothing headed to nothing. Fun is a product of cultural, social, aesthetic, and intellectual forces, and fun needs to be understood, if for no other reason than to produce more, better fun.

This blog is about fun. And games. And culture. Because without the third the second wouldn't matter and the first would be impossible.