Beyond the digital divide: An ecological approach to gameplay
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This paper outlines a framework for understanding gameplay from the perspective of ecological psychology. According to this perspective, gameplay can be described in terms of perceiving, acting on and transforming the affordances that are related to a game system or to other players in a game. Challenges in games have an emphasis on perceiving suitable actions and/or performing suitable actions, often with emphasis on one aspect. For example, in many board games, strategy games and puzzle games, the challenge is to perceive appropriate affordances while in many sports, multiplayer shooter games, racing games, etc. the challenge is to use appropriate affordances. From this follows that the ecological approach to gameplay overrides the division of games as being digital and non-digital games.
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There is a danger of seeing games only through the lens of digital games.
“However, there is a danger of seeing games only through the lens of digital games (cf. Linderoth, 2011).”
From Real-time hermeneutics: meaning-making in ludonarrative digital games (2018) · cites this paper as Linderoth, 2011
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Cites
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Real-time hermeneutics: meaning-making in ludonarrative digital games
Arjoranta, J. (2018) · doi:10.31237/osf.io/uep74 · Cited by 21 · see citing works
- Authors
- Linderoth, J.
- Affiliations
- University of Gothenburg (SE)
- Corresponding author
- Linderoth, Jonas
- ORCID
- Linderoth, Jonas
- Venue
- Transactions of the Digital Games Research Association
- Publisher
- Digital Games Research Association
- Published
- 2013-04-05
- Volume
- 1
- Issue
- 1
- ISSN
- 2328-9414 (ISSN-L)
- 2328-9422
- OpenAlex
- W1550760071
- Cited by
- 52
- References
- 3
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 2 · 2015: 3 · 2014: 3 · 2013: 3
- FWCI
- 10.56
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- diamond
- doi.org
- Locations
- Transactions of the Digital Games Research Association (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Vetenskapsrådet
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Digital Games and Media
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Educational Games and Gamification
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Embodied and Extended Cognition
- Keywords
- gameplay, ecological psychology, affordances, digital divide, video games, non-digital games, game challenge, perception and action, multiplayer games, board games, strategy games, puzzle games, shooting games, racing games
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