Beyond Fun and Games (Paperback)

This book charts the course of my attempts to bring meaning for myself and for others about our world's energy resources. This theme was playfully explored through the creation and production of the interactive Forum Theatre piece "Spies in the Oilsands" and a serious videogame called "The Pipeline Pinball Energy Thrill Ride Game." The book also looks at the use of theatre as a model for new ways of analyzing videogames and ultimately looks at both theatre and games as ways of rehearsing the reality of our future. Part One is a review of literary influences that relate to the theoretical aims of the interconnected topics of interactive theatre, serious games, and the social issue of world energy resources. Part Two describes the creative process and production details of the case studies, and Part Three features a synergy between theatre and serious games that I have coined "Gamaturgy." Gamaturgy, in both the creative and reflexive realms, as I describe them, is derived from theatrical dramaturgy and provides new ideas for creating and critically analyzing videogames.