Writing about a game is like another play that is an extension of “play.” In the 3rd session, “How to tell a game,” we looked at critical writing among many approaches to game writing. In fact, what has a professional gaming columnist been writing about, and what is he or she aiming for? Can game writing be meaningful as a profession?

We looked at different ways of game writing, along with the different environments in which game columnists write. The most common way is to write in the context of a game review. However, game columnists sometimes look at it from various perspectives by combining it with various fields to write about games. This is significant because even the same game can be viewed from different perspectives. In the microscopic view, it is possible to discuss various ways to play the game and, broadly, write about the game in connection with the various social relationships and layers surrounding the game.

We looked at the writing style that advocates game criticism. This is important in that it can handle both the internal and external structures of the game. As a representative example, the game “God of war” showed that the textual description of real Nordic mythology and its world could be achieved through the visual aspects of the game. Therefore, we can identify both the internal and external structures of the game at once and find meaningful points within these structures.

Also, it is possible to write about games from a more social point of view. The background setting of the game “SaintsRow” is Seoul, where cyberpunk features appear. What will Seoul look like in the near future? This game shows the image of Seoul seen by foreigners. In addition to its visual context, it shows how the urban atmosphere and social image of the city of Seoul are projected in the eyes of foreigners.

This game reflects social issues beyond criticism. Today, it is easy to find examples where digital and PC game formats are translated offline. Room escape games and screen golf reflect the trend that society as a whole is becoming gamified. This change shows that the game is evolving from the previous perception of being regarded as a subculture and a fringe culture.

Another type of writing about the games can be achieved in terms of research on game culture. It is to analyze various social phenomena that appear due to games in the context of cultural studies. Various methods of writing about the games we have looked at so far can be viewed as an extended “play” that is to understand, reproduce, and remediate the world. We are writing about games with a new methodology and as a new medium that reveals the other side of the world and contributes to expanding the scope or understanding of the world.