Encyclopedia of Ludic Terms

About

The Encyclopedia of Ludic Terms is an open-access resource established in 2022 by the ERC-Advanced-Grant project MSG - Making Sense of Games (2016 - 2022, PI Espen Aarseth). The aim is to curate a growing lexicon of terms and concepts that are frequently used in game studies’ discourses. Games studies is a loosely defined field constituted by diverse researchers with various backgrounds, but with the common phenomena of interest: games, play and their surroundings. Given the diversity of contributing fields and disciplines, game studies is a fertile ground for academic discussion and exchange. With the high potential this cross-fertilization brings, comes the problem that many concepts and terms are derived from fields not every game studies scholar is familiar with. Thus, the Encyclopedia of Ludic Terms’ objective is to be a state-of-the-art source that covers the most prominent understandings of and discourses surrounding a term, offering a well-researched basis for new inquiries. The Encyclopedia of Ludic Terms aims to serve three main audiences:

1. Scholars within game studies who seek to explore a new topic or need a well-founded overview of a topic or concept.
2. Scholars from other fields who want to engage with game studies.
3. Students of game studies, game design, media studies and related fields, who are working on tasks related to game studies concepts.

Publishing Model

The Encyclopedia of Ludic Terms is openly accessible and free of charge. To assure the quality of content and timeliness, articles in the Encyclopedia of Ludic Terms will be updated on an ongoing basis. Each update will be tracked, so that references enable (but also require) referencing older versions of an article. Topics can be suggested to the editorial board who will then decide on their feasibility.