Faculty Mentor
Ramiro Corbetta
Major/Area of Research
Digital Game Design and Development
Description
In this project, I define the genre of Comic Games and discuss its categorical independence of other genres. Until now, this genre has not been clearly defined in the videogame medium. I have conducted research and compiled games that are generally accepted as being humorous. I then weeded out games that simply contain humor and categorized the remaining works that are at their core Comic Games. Comic Games are those whose primary and prolonged purpose are to evoke laughter from the user. This is different than humorous games that passively include humor. A Comic Game is one that is predominantly defined as being humorous, not as belonging to another genre and containing humor. The Comic Game’s intent is not to innovate within its sub-genre(s) but to use generally accepted standards as a vehicle to carry its comedy. If a Comic Game innovates within its sub-genre, the innovations seek to further the comic nature of the work as a whole. There are many ways that a game can achieve the Comic genre status. Parody is a type of Comic Game that mocks pre-existing culture. Surrealistically Comic Games primarily deliver laughs through their visual stylings, often making use of surrealistic situations and imagery. Interactively Comic Games invoke hilarity through user inputs and/or in-game tasks. My definition of Comic Games is focused on a deliberate authorial intent rather than a subjective sense of what is or is not funny. This definition will further the bounds of study of the videogame medium.
Included in
Funny Games - A Definition for and Study of Comic Videogames
In this project, I define the genre of Comic Games and discuss its categorical independence of other genres. Until now, this genre has not been clearly defined in the videogame medium. I have conducted research and compiled games that are generally accepted as being humorous. I then weeded out games that simply contain humor and categorized the remaining works that are at their core Comic Games. Comic Games are those whose primary and prolonged purpose are to evoke laughter from the user. This is different than humorous games that passively include humor. A Comic Game is one that is predominantly defined as being humorous, not as belonging to another genre and containing humor. The Comic Game’s intent is not to innovate within its sub-genre(s) but to use generally accepted standards as a vehicle to carry its comedy. If a Comic Game innovates within its sub-genre, the innovations seek to further the comic nature of the work as a whole. There are many ways that a game can achieve the Comic genre status. Parody is a type of Comic Game that mocks pre-existing culture. Surrealistically Comic Games primarily deliver laughs through their visual stylings, often making use of surrealistic situations and imagery. Interactively Comic Games invoke hilarity through user inputs and/or in-game tasks. My definition of Comic Games is focused on a deliberate authorial intent rather than a subjective sense of what is or is not funny. This definition will further the bounds of study of the videogame medium.