No selling the genie lamp: A game literacy practice in The Sims

Abstract

Drawing on the New Literacy Studies, the authors argue that game literacy takes multiple forms and is embedded in different practices associated with particular games and gaming communities. They examine one specific game literacy practice that involves players of The Sims creating challenges for other players, and they identify how playing and creating these challenges engages players as designers, modders, coach/mentors, teachers, and orchestrators of particular forms of discourse. The forms of writing that the players engage in, both in online game forums and in their stories about their Sims, is a new print literacy practice, as well as an integral part of a specific game literacy practice. The authors' analysis suggests that the ability to engage in 'soft modding' may be a crucial, though undervalued, aspect of game literacy in this context, and also illustrates how game literacies can be integrally tied to and, in turn, transform print literacies.