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The fan fiction that is inspired by the textual world of both the original and new series of Doctor Who seems to provide a paratextual world of its own that produces a fascinatingly multidirectional relationship with the narratives that inspire it. Specifically, an interrogation of the intersections of these two worlds yields compelling evidence that the textual world of the new incarnation of the television series is aware of the concerns that tend to be generated by the writers of fan fiction and has adapted its own world to accommodate, or at least acknowledge, many of those concerns. If the writing of Doctor Who fan fiction can be productively read as play and as a creative, ludic engagement, how might the heuristic of ludology be employed as a means to encounter these texts and the playful relationship they create with the textual world from which their content is inspired?

The ludology-narratology dispute has been dismissed and neglected by many researchers. Theorists on both sides of the conflict created theories assimilating the concepts of their opponents. However, in my opinion, Ian Bogost — a scientist not involved in the dispute — has the most interesting solution to the problem. Bogost's basic concepts — unit operations comparative criticism and procedural rhetoric theory – combine interpretations of game rules with those of narratives. The achievements of Bogost seem less known and appreciated in the Polish game studies. In this article, I will present the basic theories from Bogost's main books: Unit Operations: An Approach to Videogame Criticism and Persuasive Games: The Expressive Power of Videogames in the context of ludology versus narratology debate.

More and more people around the world are using computer (video) games. The development of the gaming industry means increasing of its complexity in all aspects. Not only is the content represented in games continuously differentiating, but we also see the increasing diversity among their creators, users, researchers and the public. This article aims to draw attention to the possibility of using the concept of social capital in ludologists' research as well as in improving the quality of games and of the cooperation between social environments related with games. Social capital is understood here as a potential of interactions embedded in interpersonal ties and social norms, which can bring advantages for individuals, groups and societies. The author takes a closer look on: the main features of this multi-dimensional category; significant differences between human, social and cultural capital; as well as the positive and negative influences of social capital.

Using ludology and narrative theory, we explore the concept of the Mary Sue in RPGs as well as in fandom. In fantasy RPGs, self-insertion and wish fulfillment are encouraged. However, the presence of a Mary Sue can still disrupt the gaming experience.

1. Introduction -- 2. Key Terms in Comics Studies -- 3. Abstract Comics – Avant-Garde -- 4. Bande Dessinée – Breakdown -- 5. Canon – Culture Industry -- 6. Dénouement – Drawing -- 7. Ecocriticism – Experimental Comics -- 8. Fable – Funny Animal -- 9. Gag – Gutter -- 10. Head Shop – Hybrid -- 11. Icon – Irony -- 12. Kitsch – Ludology -- 13. Mail Order – Myth -- 14. Narration – Novelisation -- 15. Onomatopoeia – Puzzle Comics -- 16. Queer Comics – Royalty Payment -- 17. Satire – Syuzhet -- 18. Taste Adjudication – Typography -- 19. Underground – Voice -- 20. War – Zine.

Cover -- Half Title -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Dedication -- Contents -- List of Figures and Illustrations -- Preface -- Acknowledgments -- 1 Ergodics and Ludology -- 1.1 Ergodics and Ludology -- 1.2 Making a Case for Interdisciplinarity -- 1.3 Discourse Analysis -- 1.4 Problems with Definitions -- 2 Interactive Play -- 2.1 Play Theory: A Summary for the Unfamiliar -- 2.2 Defining the Player -- 2.3 Interactivity -- 2.4 Evoking Human-Computer Interaction -- 3 Human-Computer Interaction -- 3.1 Game Literacy and Representation: Remediation, Immediacy, and Language -- 3.2 Ergodic Literature and Computer-Mediated Communication -- 3.3 Interview Data: Discourses of Fantasy vs. Reality -- 3.4 Personalized Concepts and Experiences of Play -- 4 New Literacies -- 4.1 Interactive Digital Games as Cultural Narrative and Imagination -- 4.2 Non-linear Storytelling and Narrative Elements of Interactivity -- 4.3 Interview Data: Experiences of Narrative -- 4.4 Divergent Pathways and Potentialities -- 4.5 Experiential Narrative Forms -- 5 Ideology and Self-Identification -- 5.1 Identity and Ideology: Discourse, Gender, and Character Connections -- 5.2 Immersion: Believability, Virtual Worlds, and the Uncanny Valley -- 5.3 Interview Data: Masculinities -- 5.4 Ergodic Ontogeny: Demonstrated in Discourse -- 5.5 Self-Identification and New Media Identity Construction -- 5.6 Role of the Player -- 6 Reflective Research -- 6.1 Layers of Meaning -- 6.2 Limited Identities for Unexpected Players -- 6.3 The Physical Effects of Interactive Play -- 6.4 Reflexivity -- 6.5 In Conclusion -- Index

This article argues that the computer game can be a locus of aesthetic form in contemporary culture. The context for understanding this claim is the decline of the artwork as bearer of form in the late 20th century, as this was understood by Adorno. Form is the enigmatic other of instrumental reason that emerges spontaneously in creative works and, in the modern era, is defined as that which makes them captivating and enigmatic yet resistant to analytic understanding. Clarification of the ways in which form is at work in game play is sought from aesthetic theory (Kant), ludology (or theory of games), and the idea of a neo-baroque entertainment culture (Ndalianis). Kant emphasized the role of play in the constitution of imaginary realms associated with aesthetic pleasure. Ludology takes play as an anthropological given differentiated historically by the development of game structures. Neo-baroque theory postulates a labyrinthine, complex and de-centred entertainment culture, largely shaped by computing as a cultural practice. The article synthesizes insights from these perspectives and, drawing on ideas from Adorno and Benjamin, argues that computer games can occupy an oppositional or critical role within contemporary aesthetics and culture. Reflection on the constitutive processes of computer game play discloses a new place for instrumental reason within aesthetic experience, as the dialectic of form and analysis migrates from traditional art materials to digital electronics.

This article traces a limited affective history of game studies in order to understand why marginalized scholars frequently feel unwelcome and uncomfortable in the field. Following the work of Clare Hemmings and Sara Ahmed, it digs into the inaugural issue of the journal Game Studies as well as the infamous narratology-versus-ludology debate to understand how the anxious and emotional rhetoric of the early game studies field imaginary created an environment hostile to the political perspectives of feminist studies and other political scholarly fields. It introduces the concept of "scholarly negging" to account for the gendered emotional manipulation enacted by men who seek to control the field's terms of conversation.