Reading Video Games as Literature

Do video games belong in the library? I will discuss how, at my library, I am merging play and critical analysis through hosting a monthly video game club for adults in which we explore video games as audiovisual ludonarrative texts. We consider play, story, visual grammar, and aural design as they contribute to multimodal literacy. Through this lens, we see how games are situated adjacent to literature and film canon.
Using examples (Bioshock, as an exploration of the philosophies in Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged; Hades, as the first video game to win a Hugo Award), we will dissect “audiovisual ludonarrativity” as a means to break down games into their base elements to gain a greater understanding of themes and messages at work in the games we play and how to discuss them academically.