Thesis Format
Integrated Article
Degree
Master of Arts
Program
Theory and Criticism
Supervisor
Janelle Blankenship
Abstract
This thesis presents three videogames through the lens of three key concepts drawn from Deleuze and Guattari’s texts: the concept of assemblage that motivates the creation of radical videogames, the concept of sense that relocates the player-Body, and the concept of becoming that rethinks different kinds of agency involved in the process of making videogames. The three videogames range from design documents to complete work, and this thesis is a counterpart to the three videogames, an attempt to grapple with my creative game-making. It also explores how philosophical concepts could be used as Outsides to the videogames that sometimes initiate and sometimes problematise the latter. Along the way, various concepts pertaining to game studies are reframed: magic circle, engagement, en- and de-rolling, bleeding, and unreality. In the end, the author proposes using Deleuze’s notions of chance and intuition as an alternative approach to game design.
Summary for Lay Audience
The thesis introduces three videogames created by the author, each made simultaneously while reading Deleuze and Guattari's works. The concept of assemblage, drawing from Manuel Delanda’s interpretation of Anti-Oedipus, motivates the first game, Hero and King (2023). As the author experiments with the groundless primary noise of poor videogames, she turns to Deleuze’s concept of sense, which motivates the second game Misrepresentation: A Deleuze Interrogation Chatbot (incomplete). This incomplete game investigates further how the player-Body interacts with the machine. The third project, Deleuze Cat Supplies (ongoing), instantiates Deleuze’s concept of encounter and attempts to rethink the author’s own becoming with an individuated animal: her cat.
From design sketches to finished pieces, the journey of creating these games is also a narrative of the author’s own exploration and interpretation of challenging philosophical ideas. In this thesis, the author argues for the necessity of bringing together or the becoming-together of theory and practice; it offers a glimpse into how philosophy can initiate, challenge, or investigate videogames from the outside.
All three projects can be downloaded here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1LKbfV6nKc38od-Cu6IwimDadiZWT_y-m?usp=drive_link
Hero and King and Misrepresentation are playable once downloaded and have playthrough videos in their respective folders. Deleuze Cat Supplies is incomplete and only uploaded as a design document.
Recommended Citation
Hu, Yiling, "Assemblage, Paradox, and Becoming-cat: Making Videogames with Deleuze and Guattari" (2024). Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository. 10093.
https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd/10093
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