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FROG 2021 | Doris C. Rusch / Andrew M. Phelps U | The Magic of The Witch’s Way

appliedgames
270 subscribers
195 views 3 years ago #FROG2021 #gamestudies
"The Magic of The Witch’s Way" by Doris C. Rusch & Andrew M. Phelps Conference Recording FROG - Future and Reality of Gaming 2021 Abstract: This talk discusses the design of The Witch’s Way, focusing on its conceptualization and creative rendering of magic. In this interactive text adventure game, you play a middle-aged woman named Lou, who decides to take a time out from her busy and outwardly successful but inwardly unfulfilled life, and move to the cottage in the woods her aunt has left her. There, she establishes contact with nature, the Unknown Forest behind the cottage, and the mysterious beings that dwell within it. Guided by animal spirits, a wise and quirky bookshelf and her aunt’s magical clues, Lou learns about the Witch’s Way and how to live in greater alignment with herself and the world around her, tapping into a pervasive and powerful magic that changes her and her life forever. The Witch’s Way is part of a bigger research endeav …...more
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FROG 2021 | Doris C. Rusch / Andrew M. Phelps U | The Magic of The Witch’s Way
4Likes
195Views
2021Nov 29
"The Magic of The Witch’s Way" by Doris C. Rusch & Andrew M. Phelps Conference Recording FROG - Future and Reality of Gaming 2021 Abstract: This talk discusses the design of The Witch’s Way, focusing on its conceptualization and creative rendering of magic. In this interactive text adventure game, you play a middle-aged woman named Lou, who decides to take a time out from her busy and outwardly successful but inwardly unfulfilled life, and move to the cottage in the woods her aunt has left her. There, she establishes contact with nature, the Unknown Forest behind the cottage, and the mysterious beings that dwell within it. Guided by animal spirits, a wise and quirky bookshelf and her aunt’s magical clues, Lou learns about the Witch’s Way and how to live in greater alignment with herself and the world around her, tapping into a pervasive and powerful magic that changes her and her life forever. The Witch’s Way is part of a bigger research endeavor that aims to articulate a theoretical framework for existential, transformative game design (Rusch, 2018; Rusch, 2020; Rusch and Phelps, 2020a; Rusch and Phelps, 2020b). Its driving research question is: how can we create games that address existential concerns – death, identity, isolation, freedom and purpose (Yalom, 1980) – and contribute to a meaningful life, i.e. a life where we are as much in alignment with our true self as we possibly can be (Bugental, 1990; Campbell, 2004). Drawing on anthropology (Davis, 2009), archetypal psychology (Hillman, 1996) as well as mythology and ritual studies in the context of (existential) psychotherapy (May, 1991; Larson, 1996; Goodwyn, 2012, 2016; Greenwood and Goodwyn 2016; Jodorowski, 2010), it harnesses four technologies of magic (Beck, 2012), 1) Wordlessness, 2) Oneness, 3) Imagination and 4) Forming, which are ways to access the unconscious self and sync it up with the energy of the conscious self as well as the energy world that surrounds us. Rather than remaining purely in the mystical realm, The Witch’s Way and its underlying framework further create a bridge to neuroscience and neuroanatomy. Because the magic of inner alignment requires access to our felt sense, research on embodied consciousness (Varela, Thompson & Bosch, 1993; Blake, 2019; Fogel, 2009) and whole brain living (Taylor, 2021) provides a fascinating and insightful scientific complement to our theoretical and creative explorations. https://frogvienna.at #FROG2021 #gamestudies

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appliedgames

270 subscribers