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This master thesis examines the question about the necessity of play that is not being asked by the research of play theory. The research of play is dealing with the question of what play is, as a common human phenomenon. They try to answer the question of why we play, but this always indicates that play is a function of something else rather than play. In the play theoru there is a core belief that play must be understood as a value in itself, nonsensical, out of the ordinary and within a restricted space as a boundary in space and time. This boundary is understood as a magic circle protecting the phenomenon. Therefore, there is a discussion between intellectuals about how we can understand the play phenomenon in itself, and not as a function. The thesis concludes that the question of the necessity of play should be regarded as a matter of metaphysical origin, and with emphasis on the relationship of being-world.

In their chapter, Glas and Lammes critically investigate the limitations of citizen science game design when it comes to having amateurs playfully participate in the production of scientific knowledge. Moving away from the traditional distance between the scientist as expert and the citizen as layperson, and between science as serious and play as trivial, they argue for a recognition of play as fundamental to the scientific endeavor and see rule breaking and bending as an essential part of this process. From this perspective, they consider an approach to citizen science game design that includes playing with the rules as a more critical way of having citizens think about and participate in science.

Esta Tesis Doctoral tiene como objeto de estudio la significación de los videojuegos. Si la forma en la que, desde niños, construimos universos de valores y damos sentido a nuestras vidas está indisolublemente unida a los medios y las obras de la cultura de masas, el estudio de los modos de significación del videojuego requiere, hoy en día, un desarrollo en profundidad. En relación con ello, el principal resultado de esta investigación consiste en la fundamentación teórica y metodológica de tres modelos de análisis del videojuego como discurso: un modelo de estructuras lúdicas, un modelo del discurso como universo narrativo y un modelo de enunciación interactiva. Asimismo, se ofrece una sistematización de los códigos de significación que conforman el lenguaje del diseño de videojuegos. Estos modelos constituyen una aportación metodológica innovadora a la Teoría del Videojuego y al Análisis del Discurso. Las fuentes teóricas y metodológicas fundamentales del trabajo son la Semiótica, la Ludología y la Narratología. La aplicación empírica de los modelos de análisis propuestos se centra en ejemplos y estudios de caso de videojuegos figurativos/narrativos, pero los modelos han sido construidos pensando en su posible utilidad para el análisis de un amplio espectro de videojuegos y otro tipo de textualidades colindantes, como los mundos narrativos de la literatura y las series televisivas. Finalmente, se cierra la investigación con dos estudios de caso donde se prueba el sistema teórico en su conjunto, sobre los videojuegos Ico (2001) y Shadow of the Colossus (2005), ambos del diseñador Fumito Ueda., The object of study in this Doctoral Dissertation is the signification of videogames. Since early childhood, the way we construct universes of values and make sense of our lifes is closely related to the media and works of mass culture. Therefore, the study of the modes of signification of videogames requires to be fully developed. According to that, this research provides the theoretical and methodological fundamentals of three models of analysis of videogame as discourse: a model of ludic structures, a model of discourse as narrative universe and a model of interactive "énonciation". Besides that, a systematization of the main signification codes which compose the language of videogame design is carried out. These models constitute an innovative methodological contribution to Videogame Theory and Discourse Analysis.The theoretical and methodological framework of the research is built upon Semiotics, Ludology and Narratology.The empirical application of the proposed analytical models is focused on examples and case studies of figurative/narrative videogames. Nevertheless, the models have been constructed bearing in mind their possible utility for the analysis of a broad spectrum of videogames and other kinds of close textualities, like the narrative worlds from literature or television series. At the end of the research, the theoretical system is tested as a whole in two case studies: Ico (2001) and Shadow of the Colossus (2005). Both videogames have been designed by Fumito Ueda.

El objetivo de este artículo es servir de introducción al estudio de la creación de sentido a través del acto de jugar con juegos, juguetes y videojuegos. Se trata de un estudio desde la Ludología, donde se analizan las tres principales dimensiones de los juegos y por tanto de los videojuegos como instrumentos de comunicación de valores: la dimensión playworld (o mundo del juego), las mecánicas del juego y la playformance (o dinámica de juego). A partir de estas dimensiones se realiza un análisis de la significación de diversos juegos y videojuegos. This paper introduces the field of play and creation of meaning, in this case by manipulating toys and games. From Ludology, we offer a three dimensional model on how games can convey ideas: through the ‘playworld’, the ‘game mechanics’ and the ‘playformance’. Using these three variables, we analyze several games and show how they communicate concepts and ideas.