Social, Casual and Mobile Games The Changing Gaming Landscape [Paperback]

Social, casual and mobile games, played on devices such as smartphones, tablets, or PCs and accessed through online social networks, have become extremely popular, and are changing the ways in which games are designed, understood, and played. These games have sparked a revolution as more people from a broader demographic than ever play games, shifting the stereotype of gaming away from that of hardcore, dedicated play to that of activities that fit into everyday life.

Social, Casual and Mobile Gamesexplores the rapidly changing gaming landscape and discusses the ludic, methodological, theoretical, economic, social and cultural challenges that these changes invoke. With chapters discussing locative games, the new freemium economic model, and gamer demographics, as well as close studies of specific games (includingCandy Crush Saga, Angry Birds, andIngress), this collection offers an insight into the changing nature of games and the impact that mobile media is having upon individuals and societies around the world.

This book is an exciting rogue's gallery of authors, games and topics at the forefront of modern gaming. The inclusion of issues discussing not only recent developments in design, playfulness and the definition of who plays games, but also attending to the darker aspects of contemporary gaming cultures such as the transition to Freemiun, cheating and GamerGate is an important step in examining new pathways into games and gaming culture.Social, Casual and Mobile Games: The Changing Gaming Landscapedemonstrates through an impressive series of chapters how this genre of games needs to be taken seriously as a cultural marker of today's players and the games they engage with. Esther MacCallum-Stewart, Research Fellow, Digital Cultures Research Centre, University of the West of England, UK

Social, Casual and Mobile Gamescaptures a wide array of scholarship from all corners of Game Studies. l#A