Free market economy and Dino Crisis: The production and circulation of knowledge in strategy games

Abstract

Based on the critical discourse analysis, this paper will conceptualize games as interdiscourse. The entanglement of games with expert knowledge by means of special discourse is essential to constitute their dimension of meaning. In this view, the analysis of knowledge within the game is a breakdown of its manner of presentation, its course of action, and its implementation in the media. The chapter presents how in current construction and management simulation games like Zoo Tycoon knowledge are negotiated within the game. The knowledge presented and circulated in this type of game is strongly multilayered and is not always playful at first sight.