Summary
Are games art? This question is a dominant mode of thinking about games and play in the twenty-first century, but it is fundamentally the wrong question. Instead, Frank Lantz proposes in his provocative new book, The Beauty of Games, that we think about games and how they create meaning through the lens of the aesthetic. We should think of games, he writes, the same way we think of literature, theater, or music—as a form that ranges from deep and profound to easy and disposable, and …
Book Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780262552950 |
|---|---|
| ISBN-10: | 0262552957 |
| Author: | Frank Lantz |
| Publisher: | MIT Press Ltd |
| Imprint: | MIT Press |
| Format: | Paperback |
| Number of Pages: | 184 |
| Release Date: | 8 April 2025 |
| Weight: | 369g |
| Dimensions: | 133mm x 203mm |
| Series: | Playful Thinking |
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Critics Review
“Lantz invites the reader to think about what games (and other mediums) do to us, whether it’s profound, pointless, or a bit of both. Forget whether or not games are art. What do they make you feel?”
—Polygon
“In The Beauty of Games, Frank Lantz at once avoids and aims for the heart of the ‘Is it art?’ debate by considering video games from within ‘the aesthetic domain.’”
—The LA Review of Books
Frank Lantz
Frank Lantz has taught game design for over twenty years at New York University, where he helped create the NYU Game Center and served as the founding Chair of the Game Design department from its inception until 2021. Frank is a game designer who has shipped over fifty titles, including the 2017 viral hit Universal Paperclips. In 2020, Frank created the board game Hey Robot in collaboration with his wife and son. Hey Robot has since become a recurring feature on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
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