Game Studies

Media Studies 360
Intended for 40 undergraduate students
Spring 2025 at the University of Victoria
lək̓ʷəŋən and WSÁNEĆ territories
M and Th, 1 - 2:20pm | 1.5 units | prereq: AWR
Taught by Jentery Sayers (he / him) | jentery@uvic.ca
Office hours: M and Th, 12-1pm, in CLE D331

Worksheet 1

Worksheet 1 covers course material from January 9th (“Work and Play”) through January 27th (“RPGs”). Your response is due via Brightspace by Thursday, January 30th, at 1pm.

The worksheet is open-book, meaning you are allowed to use the course website, the class notebook, your own notes, recordings of class sessions, the library, and the internet to address the prompts.

Please cite your source material.

Download the Worksheet

Please download the worksheet (DOCX format) to complete it in a word processor such as Microsoft Word, Google Docs, OpenOffice, LibreOffice, or Pages for Mac.

Format

This open-book worksheet contains three prompts, and I will mark it holistically rather than giving each response a separate mark.

Some prompts ask you to create media. Please attach your audio, image, or video files to your response in Brightspace. Do not use YouTube, SoundCloud, Vimeo, Google Drive, or any other non-Brightspace platform to submit files.

If you play a game with someone else or observe them playing (outside of Twitch, YouTube, or a similar public streaming or publishing platform), then please first acquire their written or recorded permission and include it as part of your submission.

The Three Prompts

Prompt 1. Select a game of your choice, play it for about an hour, and take notes as you do. Then use no more than 400 words, including terminology from the class notebook, to explain how playing it intersects with work and labour. Be specific and be sure to include examples. You might even test the game against Bernard Suits’s remark: “Playing a game is the voluntary attempt to overcome unnecessary obstacles” (1978). Feel free to include documentation (video, audio, or images) of the play session.

Prompt 2. Return to the game you played for Prompt 1. Play it for another hour or so. Use a concurrent or reflective think-aloud strategy to 1) document your play (video, audio, or images) and 2) comment on what you expect will happen next in the game. Then use no more than 400 words, including terminology from the class notebook, to reflect on what you learned about genre, story, and mechanics in games from this exercise. Be sure to include your think-aloud documentation and commentary alongside your written response. Optional reading: “I Suck at This Game: ‘Let’s Play’ Videos, Think-Alouds, and the Pedagogy of Bad Feelings,” by Derritt Mason (2021).

Prompt 3. Return to that game one more time but observe someone else playing it. Maybe you visit a local arcade or board game cafe, watch Twitch or YouTube, or meet up with a friend online or somewhere in town. As you observe, take notes on how the person plays the game but also the gaming venue or platform where they’re playing it. Then use no more than 400 words, including terminology from the class notebook, to describe and reflect on what you’re learning about 1) the game’s culture and community and 2) the sort of content people produce (or could produce) about the game. Feel free to include pertinent URLs and/or documentation (video, audio, or images) of the play session. Optional reading: “Ethnography as Play,” by T.L. Taylor (2022).

Assessment

I will use the following rubric, based on UVic’s official grading system, to assess your responses.

89.5-100 (exceeds all expectations of the worksheet): the responses are compelling; they address all the prompts and apply course terminology; they enhance the course material, including lectures, class discussions, the class notebook, and our engagements with games listed in the syllabus; the use of examples is clear, focused, convincing, and inventive (original insight)
79.5-89 points (exceeds some or most expectations of the worksheet): the responses are compelling; they address all the prompts and apply course terminology; they correspond with the course material, including lectures, class discussions, the class notebook, and our engagements with games listed in the syllabus; the use of examples is clear, focused, and convincing
69.5-79 points (meets or mostly meets the expectations of the worksheet): the responses address all the prompts and apply course terminology; they correspond with the course material, including lectures, class discussions, the class notebook, and our engagements with games listed in the syllabus; the use of examples is often convincing but may warrant some clarification
59.5-69 points (meets some expectations of the worksheet): the responses address some of the prompts and apply some course terminology; they correspond with some of the course material, including lectures, class discussions, the class notebook, and our engagements with games listed in the syllabus; the use of examples warrants some clarification
49.5-59 points (does not meet the expectations of the worksheet): the responses do not correspond much, if at all, with the course material or the prompts
0-49 points: no responses or incomplete responses

1 point will be deducted for every 25 words over the prescribed word count.

10 points will be deducted from the overall mark if no references are included at the end of the worksheet (see “Citing Your Sources”).

5 points will be deducted from the overall mark if the references at the end of the worksheet are not formatted according to an established citation style (see “Citing Your Sources”).

Your mark for Worksheet 1 will constitute 20% of your final mark in this course.

You do not need to meet the word count in each response to earn a high mark.

I recommend using prose (paragraphs) rather than point form in your responses. Prose is more synthetic and will allow you to make connections.

Citing Your Sources

Please do not forget to cite any material from which you draw ideas or examples. This includes games, videos, podcasts, and streams as well as academic publications such as monographs and journal articles. You are welcome to use your preferred citation style (MLA, Chicago, or APA, e.g.).

What to Submit

Please submit a DOCX, ODT, PAGES, or PDF file containing your answers and references along with any media files you were prompted to attach or embed.

When to Submit It

A response to Worksheet 1 is due by 1pm on Thursday, January 30th, but there is a 24-hour grace period. I will deduct five points for every business day I receive Worksheet 1 after 1pm on Friday, January 31st. I will close the submission portal for Worksheet 1 at 1pm on Thursday, February 13th, and cannot accept any submissions after the portal is closed. I will not accept any submissions by email.