Embedded Files
Counterplay & Cultural Games Studies
Research Cluster at UC Davis
Critical Hit
Critical Hit
Critical Hit: Counterplay & Cultural Games Studies at UC Davis promotes scholarship considering the role and influence of video games and other games media in social, political, racial, and other intersectional contexts. This research cluster intervenes in the gap between the public impact of games on global culture and the rising field of academic game studies. Participants develop new research on video games and games media, forge interdisciplinary connections among faculty and students, and host working and collaborative events to foster a diverse community of scholars of all levels across UC Davis.
Critical Hit is a committed group of faculty and graduate students who work with a large population of engaged undergraduate students. Game studies is a rapidly growing field, and video games are one of the most important, wide-reaching, and impactful artistic media of the twenty-first century—yet access to research materials and avenues for generative academic collaboration remain available only in exclusive pockets. This research cluster aims to position UC Davis at the forefront of game studies as a source for new research, new models of scholarly community, and new connections between our campus, scholars in the field, and institutions around the world.
Critical Hit evolved out of a game studies reading group that led to a funded Davis Humanities Institute (DHI) Research Cluster in 2023–2024. In 2024–2025 Critical Hit earned funding as a UC Davis DHI Working Group. Since its inception, Critical Hit has operated as a student-led group of scholars at all stages of their game studies journey, serving as a community hub for game studies research on campus.
Events
Events
We host a lot of events at UC Davis about games. We believe that the best way to think about games is to talk about games, and the best way to talk about games is while you’re playing games.
So we host events for talking about and playing games!
Ongoing Events
Ongoing Events
Research Workshops
Research Workshops
every other week since Fall 2023
ongoing series of structured discussions where we present ongoing research, hold game studies reading group discussions, workshop papers & presentations, and brainstorm critical approaches to new games topics
past workshop topics
motion control, minigames, “quests” & The Lord of the Rings in games, ROM hacks, history & gaming, signifiers & horror, metalepsis, zine games, algorithmically-driven narratives, being “good” at games, the supernatural & paranormal in games, customizing TCG systems, games & politics, social relations via games, “escape” in games, Civilization & Innovation, trading card games (TCGs), patches, collaboration, video game “canons,” Queer Games Avant Garde, fighting games & Street Fighter II, and moreDiscord Critical Play Days
Discord Critical Play Days
every other week since Fall 2023
less structured conversations following a loose theme (simulator games, games where you can pause time, the mid-2000s indie/flash game revolution, etc.) with critical plays streamed live by participants
past Discord play day topics
Kerbal Space Program, Creatures 3, Microsoft Flight Simulator, Super Meat Boy, FTL (Faster Than Light), and moreThe Backlog
The Backlog
quarterly since Winter 2024
full-day close-play deep-dive sessions into a single game or a focused collection of games for hands-on experience playing and thinking about major works; Backlog events emphasize discussing games in their historical, social, and artistic context and playing games on original hardware
Fall 2025: Horror Games
with Resident Evil 4 (2005), Resident Evil 4 (2023, remake), Resident Evil 4 (2021, Oculus Quest VR), Pony Island (2016) & othersSpring 2025: Tabletop Role-Play
with Dungeons & Dragons 5e (2014/2024), Call of Cthulhu 7e (2014) & His Majesty, the Worm (2023)Winter 2025: Social Deduction
with Werewolf (1986), Wavelength (2019), Blood on the Clocktower (2022) & othersSpring 2024: Sega Dreamcast Special
with Sonic Adventure (1998), Space Channel 5 (1999) & Space Channel 5 VR (2020)Winter 2024: Adventure & RPGs
with Colossal Cave Adventure (1976), AI Dungeon (2019), Final Fantasy VII (1997) & Final Fantasy VII: Remake (2020)Past Special Events
Past Special Events
Year-End Symposium!
Year-End Symposium!
April 26, 2024
Special presentations, research reviews, games community events, a keynote speaker, and more!
See more on our Events page.
Game Night at the MU!
Game Night at the MU!
October 24, 2023
co-hosted with the Graduate Students of Color+ (GSoC+)
a community event fostering academic connections between scholars across disciplinary boundaries that uses games as a bridge for support between scholars of all backgrounds and experiences
People
People
We are a collection of students and faculty, community memers and scholars, and people of all stripes united by our shared interest in playing and talking about games.
We were founded by a group of graduate students at UC Davis interested in fostering community between people interested in games. We want to break down the barriers that keep people in silos—we’re people making space for everyone to play games and think about games in ways that are new and interesting for all of us.
No expertise required—we do things with games together!
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