How Art Games work - Outland

In the opening screen of Cassie McQuater’s art game Zoo Tycoon 2032 (2018), I’m faced with a choice: I can begin building my zoo, or I can hold a town hall meeting to gather feedback on the environmental impact of the proposed zoo. No matter which option I choose, I’ll ultimately be led to the same zoo-building gameplay.

With the game now underway,... See more

Contemporary art exists to render the invisible. And the dominant structures and boundaries that guide our agency, constructed by the most powerful economic forces in history, are incredibly important invisible structures to render. An art game helps us to think about how we express our agency.

If art has a duty, it is to render visible the conditions in the world which are ubiquitous but otherwise invisible. You see where I’m going here. If you want to make an artwork depicting a person, you would do well to use oil paint, a technology that, like human flesh, absorbs and refracts light, and can be pulled taut across the canvas or else le... See more