This article provides an analysis of the “dating app” Tinder as an aesthetic ludic artifact. By scrutinizing the title’s features of gameplay and expressive–interpretive social interaction, Tinder usage is set into a frame theory context and shown to operate by multiple overlapping frames that allow romantic engagement to be entered as play and vice versa.

Czym różnią się gatunki gier cyfrowych od gatunków znanych nam z filmu czy literatury, takich jak western bądź kryminał? Czy znane gry, takie jak rodzimy Wiedźmin, jedynie czerpią z repertuarów gatunkowych swoich książkowych lub ekranowych źródeł, czy też może oferują osobne i unikatowe wzorce gatunkowe? Autorka omawia zagadnienie gatunku w grach cyfrowych w relacji do innych mediów na przykładzie współzależności fantasy, komputerowych gier fabularnych (computer Role-Playing Games) i gier angażujących (hardcore games). Interesuje ją nie tylko wymiar reguł i związana z interaktywnością mechanika, ale także rama semantyczna świata gry oraz – łączące dwa poprzednie aspekty – doświadczenie rozgrywki. Jednocześnie Autorka zwraca szczególną uwagę na kontekst historyczny kultury gier cyfrowych i za pomocą licznych przykładów umieszcza prowadzoną argumentację w szerokiej perspektywie kulturoznawczej. Wprowadza do języka polskiego tłumaczenia istotnych terminów, które konsekwentnie stosuje i wyjaśnia, na potrzeby analizy wykorzystuje także własne pojęcia (m. in. model fuzji gatunkowej). Dzięki temu osadza groznawstwo w dyscyplinarnym kontekście akademickim.

A growing number of game design and development programs in higher education are beginning to incorporate environmental considerations into their curricula. This aligns with the broader push for more responsible and environmentally conscious practices in game production, consumption, and education. This article introduces two ongoing European inter-university projects: the Erasmus+ Greening Games project and the Nordplus-funded Nordic Alliance for Sustainability in Gaming network. Using them as case studies, the article reflects on the lessons learned and the challenges encountered while implementing the projects’ pilot stages, as well as their implications for environmentally conscious game design education more broadly.

To date, most work on computers in art has focused on the Algorists (1960s–) and on later cyber arts (1990s–). The use of microcomputers is an underexplored area, with the 1980s constituting a particular gap in the knowledge. This article considers the case of Polish-Australian artist, Stan Ostoja-Kotkowski (b. 1922, d. 1994), who after early exposure to computers at the Bell Labs (1967), returned to microcomputers late in his life. He was not a programmer yet used micros in his practice from the early 1980s, first a BBC in his BP Christmas Star commission, and later a 32-bit Archimedes. This he used from 1989 until his death to produce still images with a fractal generator and the ‘paintbox’ program, “Photodesk”. Drawing on archival research and interviews, we focus on three examples of how Ostoja deployed his micro, highlighting the convergence of art, maths, electronics, and a ‘hands-on’ tinkering ethic in his practice. We argue that when considering the history of creative microcomputing, it is imperative to go beyond the field of art itself. In this case, electronics and the hobbyist computing scenes provide crucial contexts.

This article investigates the development of discourses related to a specific era of independent games and offers a close historical and cultural analysis of the freeware Polish game Żulionerzy (Ortalion Entertainment 2001 Ortalion Entertainment. 2001. Żulionerzy [Windows]. Self-Published at www.ortalion.prv.pl. Wayback Machine. Accessed 17.2.2022. [Google Scholar] ). The game is positioned as a compelling cultural artefact from the often overlooked and underresearched period of the early 2000s, combining inspirations from the globally recognized TV franchise Who Wants to be a Millionaire and the emerging indie games scenes. The authors argue that Żulionerzy is a project that manages to capture young adults’ perspective on the economic and cultural zeitgeist of the era. Its potential as a counter-cultural and transgressive gaming intervention is further reinforced by intertextual references and a parodistic core gameplay loop. The assessment of Żulionerzy is concluded with a call to investigate similar productions which, while produced in a national language, shared their key features with the rising wave of grassroot browser-based games.

During the years of the Polish People’s Republic, Poles were cut off from the western world. Travel was restricted, as was access to out- side culture and goods. This unique situation led to a period of great ingenuity in the realm of new media. Not only were media adapted to suit Poles’ needs, but new technology was fashioned to gain access to western television, film and video games. Bringing people together, VCRs, computers and satellite television were thus a window to the outside world and contemporary to the mobilisation of Solidarity and the end of communism. As such, their diffusion is an important but largely overlooked aspect of Poland’s history. Acutely aware of this, the authors of this book recount new media behind the Iron Curtain in a way that will appeal to scholars and non-academic readers alike. Coupling archival research with in depth interviews, they bring to life the talent and determination of the PPR’s new media pioneers, compelling others to dig further.