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"Orders came to him through a monitor": Analysis of metagames about the nature of video games
Šanda, Štěpán ; Šisler, Vít (advisor) ; Pýcha, Čeněk (referee)
One of the themes embodied in artistically ambitious computer games is the reflection on their videogame nature. For example, they use narrative, visual or procedural means to comment on or critique usually unproblematized game principles, rules, or general perceptions of games. Such games are sometimes subsumed under the broader notion of the metagame, which this thesis discusses and summarises based on readings. Drawing on Teresa de la Hera's theoretical model, the empirical section uses a multimodal analysis of five selected self-reflexive metagames to explore how and what these works say about the video game medium. The text argues that self-reflexive or self-referential games follow the tradition of Brechtian epic theatre, for example, by turning the player's attention to himself and the conditions under which he plays and how the games themselves affect him. In doing so, it concludes that self-reflexive games are multimodal and creative representations of the game's persuasiveness
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