The Well-Read Game

“The Well-Read Game offers a groundbreaking theory of interpretive interactivity where readers become players and players become readers. Finally, a book has seamlessly melded literacy, literature, and gaming and placed them at the heart of education for creativity and critical thinking.”
—James Paul Gee, Regents Professor Emeritus, Arizona State University; author of New Digital Media and Learning as an Emerging Area and “Worked Examples” as One Way Forward

“The Well-Read Game is an essential read if you’re among the growing group of people who understand that video games are as expressive an art form as literature and cinema.”
—Brian Upton, author of The Aesthetic of Play and Situational Game Design; designer of Rainbow Six and Ghost Recon

“This book reveals the beauty of games as texts to be read deeply. Fullerton and Farber show how thoughtful play can unlock personal insights and transform gaming into a meaningful, reflective practice.”
—Paul Darvasi, CEO and co-founder, Gold Bug Interactive

“Fullerton and Farber propose an alternative to “systems thinking”–based approaches to games, instead calling for self-reflection and metacognition in play…. The call for more social and more shared experiences is welcome.”
—Choice

“With the foundation provided in The Well-Read Game, players now have strong guidelines to experience their games to the fullest.”
—The Journal of Popular Culture

“The Well-Read Game is a welcome addition to the methodology-oriented literature on game analysis. Its accessible writing style makes it particularly well suited for undergraduate courses, as well as for readers outside of game studies who wish to engage more thoughtfully with play. By foregrounding aesthetic readings, the book invites us to reflect more deeply on how games affect us—not only intellectually, but also on emotional and personal levels.”
—Critical Studies in Media Communication

“In The Well-Read Game, Tracy Fullerton and Matthew Farber propose a bold vision: Players should approach games not just as entertainment, but as texts to be read deeply and aesthetically.”
—American Journal of Play

Tracy Fullerton is an experimental game designer, Professor, and Director of the Game Innovation Lab at the University of Southern California Games Program.

Matthew Farber is Associate Professor of Educational Technology and Codirector of the Gaming SEL Lab at the University of Northern Colorado.

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