Well Played 2.0: Video Games, Value and Meaning - OpenLibra

my way through the dungeons. And finally returning to good old tabletop,
I wanted to explore most deeply the parts of the game that the
computer limited, true interaction with npcs, and an emergent betrayal
plot.
These urges are perhaps natural. As Bogost and Monfort note, the
game is naturally shaped by the platform it is designed for – and Pool of
Radiance was originally designed for the tabletop. It is designed to make
best use of the affordances and restrictions of playing a game around a
table with friends, and feels occasionally clunky when forced to be experienced
through another platform. To take a game effectively to multiple
platforms, this suggests a need to redesign from the top, taking into
account a new set of affordances and restrictions based on the game’s
new platform.
Pool of Radiance, and games in general, give naturally to Barthes’
view on readers authoring texts. And just as a platform becomes a major
component of how the player views the text, not only in the current experience,
but also by shaping future lenses for the player if they approach
the text again. Pool of Radiance takes natural advantage of this,
by creating a malleable, provocative text through its rules, events, characters,
and environments.
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