Skip to content
Description
By: Jaroslav Svelch
An ode to the gruesome game characters we love to beat—from the monsters of D&D to the mutants of The Last of Us—and what they tell us about ourselves.
Since the early days of video games, monsters have played pivotal roles as dangers to be avoided, level bosses to be defeated, or targets to be destroyed for extra points. But why is the figure of the monster so important in gaming, and how have video games come to shape our culture’s conceptions of monstrosity? To answer these questions, Player vs. Monster explores the past half-century of monsters in games, from the dragons of early tabletop role-playing games and the pixelated aliens of Space Invaders to the malformed mutants of The Last of Us and the bizarre beasts of Bloodborne, and reveals the common threads among them.
Covering examples from aliens to zombies, Jaroslav Švelch explores the art of monster design and traces its influences from mythology, visual arts, popular culture, and tabletop role-playing games. At the same time, he shows that video games follow the Cold War–era notion of clearly defined, calculable enemies, portraying monsters as figures that are irredeemably evil yet invariably vulnerable to defeat. He explains the appeal of such simplistic video game monsters, but also explores how the medium could evolve to present more nuanced depictions of monstrosity.
An ode to the gruesome game characters we love to beat—from the monsters of D&D to the mutants of The Last of Us—and what they tell us about ourselves.
Since the early days of video games, monsters have played pivotal roles as dangers to be avoided, level bosses to be defeated, or targets to be destroyed for extra points. But why is the figure of the monster so important in gaming, and how have video games come to shape our culture’s conceptions of monstrosity? To answer these questions, Player vs. Monster explores the past half-century of monsters in games, from the dragons of early tabletop role-playing games and the pixelated aliens of Space Invaders to the malformed mutants of The Last of Us and the bizarre beasts of Bloodborne, and reveals the common threads among them.
Covering examples from aliens to zombies, Jaroslav Švelch explores the art of monster design and traces its influences from mythology, visual arts, popular culture, and tabletop role-playing games. At the same time, he shows that video games follow the Cold War–era notion of clearly defined, calculable enemies, portraying monsters as figures that are irredeemably evil yet invariably vulnerable to defeat. He explains the appeal of such simplistic video game monsters, but also explores how the medium could evolve to present more nuanced depictions of monstrosity.
You may also like
熱銷中 Top Trending
Press Start! #15 Mega Mole Girl Digs Deep! (Branches)
Sale priceHK$47.00
Regular priceHK$98.00
In stock
Legends of Lotus Island #01 The Guardian Test (Christina Soontornvat)
Sale priceHK$67.00
Regular priceHK$112.00
In stock
Maisy's (正版) Holiday Picture Book Bag Collection (Lucy Cousins)
Sale priceHK$175.00
Regular priceHK$504.00
In stock
Treehouse, The (正版) Boxset / Bundle with QR code Audio (Andy Griffiths)
Sale priceFrom HK$179.00
Regular priceHK$673.00
In stock
Dragon Masters #25 (正版) Legend of the Star Dragon (Branches) (Tracey West)
Sale priceHK$42.00
Regular priceHK$69.00
In stock
Brown: My Alter Ego Is A Superhero Book 1 (Håkon Øvreås)
Sale priceFrom HK$64.00
Regular priceHK$80.00
In stock
