Reading Games
... as in "we are reading games," not as if a series of gamified reading sessions – is a book club for video games instead of books!
The club meets on a monthly basis, to talk about selected games, from an interdisciplinary perspective, including Cultural Studies and literary approaches. In order to join, you don't have to have any level of knowledge about video games, or define yourself as a "gamer." That term is becoming as meaningful as a term like "movie-goer" in today's world, where digital games are everywhere as cultural products. Please come prepared, i.e. play the game, and/or watch a video of someone else who is playing it for you.
For more information or questions on how to access the Discord server, please contact Kübra Aksay.
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Upcoming Sessions – Summer 2023
Wednesdays | 8–9.30 pm | Discord
T R A V E R S A L
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Wednesday, June 14 | Dredge (2023) DREDGE is a single-player fishing adventure with a sinister undercurrent. Sell your catch, upgrade your boat, and dredge the depths for long-buried secrets. Explore a mysterious archipelago and discover why some things are best left forgotten. |
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Wednesday, July 12 | Last of Us: Part I (2022) & the game's TV adaptation (2023) Join us for this special session in which we first take a quick look into the 2022 remake of the Last of Us video game (via let’s play live-stream) and then discuss the game’s 2023 TV adaptation. Participants do not need to play the game in advance but should watch the first season of the show. The discussion is not planned to be spoiler-free. |
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Wednesday, August 9 | Season: A Letter to the Future (2023) In SEASON: A Letter to the Future, you play as a young woman from a secluded village exploring the world by bike for the first time, collecting memories before a cataclysm washes everything away. SEASON is a quest to discover a new world; one unknown yet familiar. Document, photograph, and record life as you find it, while you still can. |
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Wednesday, September 13 | Outer Wilds (2019) Winner of Best Game at the 2020 BAFTA Games Awards and named Game of the Year 2019 by Giant Bomb, Polygon, Eurogamer, and The Guardian, Outer Wilds is a critically-acclaimed and award-winning open world mystery about a solar system trapped in an endless time loop. |
Gerald Farca - Playing Dystopia: Nightmarish Worlds in Video Games and the Player's Aesthetic Response (2018) NEW! |
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Past Sessions
N A T U R E / R E B I R T H
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Lost Ember (2019) | 2.2023 Explore the remains of a fallen world from fascinating perspectives! Slip into the role of different animals to uncover the fate of an ancient world. Dive into deep waters, fly at lofty heights, dig underground as a mole or even climb steep cliffs with a mountain goat, there are lots of ways of getting around. |
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Sky: Children of the Light (2019) | 3.2023 Hold hands and take flight in an unforgettable social adventure together with loved ones. Explore the seven realms of this beautifully-animated kingdom with other players where compassion, community and wonder greet you at each turn. Create enriching memories as you solve mysteries, make friends, and help others along the way. |
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Alba: A Wildlife Adventure (2020) | 4.2023 Even the smallest person can make a big difference. Join Alba, as she sets out to save her beautiful island and its wildlife. And possibly start a revolution. |
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Lake (2021) | 5.2023 It's 1986 - Meredith Weiss takes a break from her career in the big city to deliver mail in her hometown. How will she experience two weeks in beautiful Providence Oaks, with its iconic lake and quirky community? And what will she do next? It's up to you. |
W I T C H E S
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Strange Horticulture (2022) | 10.2022 Strange Horticulture is an occult puzzle game in which you play as the proprietor of a local plant store. Find and identify new plants, pet your cat, speak to a coven, or join a cult. Use your collection of powerful plants to influence the story and unravel Undermere’s dark mysteries. |
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Black Book (2020) | 11.2022 Explore a world of authentic slavic folklore as a young witch. Outwit the devilish forces and open all the seals on the Black Book. The game is set in late XIXth century Perm District, north of Cherdyn. This is an RPG with deckbuilding elements featuring a narrative inspired by folklore demon stories. |
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Wytchwood (2020) | 12.2022 Wytchwood is a crafting adventure game set in an expressive land of gothic fables and fairytales. As the mysterious old witch of the woods, you will explore a strange countryside, collect magical ingredients, brew sorcerous enchantments, and pass your twisted judgement upon a capricious cast of characters and creatures. |
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Potion Craft (2021) | 01.2023 In this special session, we will have a look at two recently published games, Potion Craft and Little Witch in the Woods. The games will be live streamed on Discord during the meeting. You don't need to purchase and play these games in advance of this meeting. |
S A I L I N G
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Spiritfarer (2020) | 6.2022 Spiritfarer is a cozy management game about dying. As ferrymaster to the deceased, build a boat to explore the world, care for your spirit friends, and release them into the afterlife. |
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Overboard! (2021) | 7.2022 Get away with murder! A highly replayable detective game where you're the one whodunnit. |
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Return of the Obra Dinn (2018) | 8.2022 A puzzle-adventure game about a ghost ship and determining the fates of its sixty crewmembers that did not return. |
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Sea of Thieves (2018) | 9.2022 Join us aboard the pirate ships on this special session either by purchasing a copy of the multiplayer game, Sea of Thieves, and playing it with the rest of us or by watching our live-stream on Discord. |
G H O S T S
Note: All games chosen for these sessions deal with the topics of death and loss. The first two sessions’ games include horror elements. Please make sure to check trigger/content warnings for all titles before you decide to play them.
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Detention (2017) | 2.2022 Detention is an atmospheric horror game set in 1960s Taiwan under martial law. Incorporating religious elements based on Taiwanese/Chinese culture and mythology, the game provided players with unique graphics and gaming experiences. |
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Phasmophobia (2020) | 3.2022 Phasmophobia is a 4 player online co-op psychological horror/investigation game. You can join this session either by watching our livestream on Discord, or by joining a group of up to three other players to play the game. You don’t need to play the game in advance. |
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Oxenfree (2016) | 4.2022 Oxenfree is a supernatural thriller about a group of friends who unwittingly open a ghostly rift. You are Alex, and you’ve just brought your new stepbrother Jonas to an overnight island party gone horribly wrong. |
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I Am Dead (2020) | 5.2022 A puzzle-adventure game about exploring the afterlife. Morris Lupton is the recently-deceased museum curator of the tiny island of Shelmerston who is reunited with the ghost of his dog Sparky, only to discover that a disaster is about to destroy his beloved island. |
V I S U A L N O V E L
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Butterfly Soup (2017) | 1.2022 »An interactive coming-of-age story about four queer Asian-American girls, their baseball club, and relationships.« |
Coffee Talk (2020) | 12.2021 »A game about listening to people’s problems and helping them by serving a warm drink out of the ingredients you have. It is a game that tries to depict our lives as humanly as possible while having a cast that is more than just humans. Immerse yourself in the stories of alternative Seattle inhabitants, from the dramatic love story between an elf and a succubus, an alien journey trying to understand human’s life, and many other stories that we might be able to relate a lot with.« |
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Doki Doki Literature Club! (2017) | 11.2021 »Welcome to a terrifying world of poetry and romance! Write poems for your crush and erase any mistakes along the way to ensure your perfect ending. Now’s your chance to discover why DDLC is one of the most beloved psychological horror games of the decade!« |
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Necrobarista (2020) | 10.2021 »Inspired equally by film and anime, Necrobarista is a unique take on the visual novel medium. Follow a dynamic and diverse cast of characters as they navigate Melbourne's hipstery coffee culture, the questionable ethics of necromancy, and the process of letting go.« |
A R T I F I C I A L I N T E L L I G E N C E
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Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance (2013) | 8.2021 |
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In Other Waters (2020) | 7.2021 |
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The Talos Principle (2014) | 6.2021 |
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Tacoma (2017) | 5.2021 |
E X P L O R A T I O N
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Where the Water Tastes Like Wine (2018) | 4.2021 |
A Short Hike (2021) | 3.2021 |
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Night in the Woods (2017) | 2.2021 |
O F F I C E - C O R E
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Hypnospace Outlaw (2019) | 1.2021 |
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Orwell: Keeping an Eye on You (2016) | 12.2020 |
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Her Story (2015) | 9/10.2020 |
N A R R A T O R
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Loved (2010) | 8.2020 |
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Little Misfortune (2019) | 7.2020 |
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The Stanley Parable (2011) | 6.2020 |
[ F O U N D ] F A M I L Y
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Brothers – A Tale of Two Sons (2013) | 5.2020 |
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Pyre (2017) | 4.2020 |
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What Remains of Edith Finch (2017) | 2.2020 |
T R A U M A
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Gris (2018) | 1.2020 |
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Max Payne (2001) | 12.2019 |
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Firewatch (2016) | 11.2019 |
M I S C .
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When Rivers Were Trails (2019) | 3.2020 Your clubs Reading Games & Indigenous Reads came together for a special session on a brand new Anishinaabe video game to debate this original take on the classic '80s game The Oregon Trail. |
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Florence (2018) | 6.2019 |