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New Books in Game Studies

New Books Network
Video Games
Game Studies
Game Design
Video Game Industry
Atari
Digital Games
Game Preservation
Nintendo
Game Development
Video Game History
Gaming Culture
Esports
Graphic User Interface
Twitch
World Of Warcraft
Everquest
Animal Crossing
Education In Esports
Gamergate
Community Building

This podcast is a channel on the New Books Network. The New Books Network is an academic audio library dedicated to public education. In each episode you will hear scholars discuss their recently published research with another expert in their field. Discover our 150+ channels and browse our 28,000+ episodes on our website: ⁠newbooksnetwork.com⁠ Subscribe to our free weekly Substack newsletter to ... more

PublishesWeeklyEpisodes160Founded3 years ago
Number of ListenersCategories
LeisureGamesVideo Games

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Artwork for New Books in Game Studies

Latest Episodes

The first book-length study on mythology reception in video games, Characters and Characterization in Mythological Video Games (Bloomsbury, 2026) examines how video games characterize mythological characters from the perspectives of classical recepti... more

The 21st Century in 100 Games (Routledge India, 2024) is an interactive public history of the contemporary world. It creates a ludological retelling of the 21st century through 100 games that were announced, launched and played from the turn of the c... more

Copyright, Contract, and Video Games: Terms of Play (Hart Publishing, 2026) uncovers how video game contracts act as monologues of power, moulding players to align with proprietary ideologies.

In the era of interactive technologies, the player emer... more

Games That Haunt Us: Gothic Game Space as a Living Nightmare (Bloomsbury, 2026) is an examination of how the Gothic appears in game space to interrogate an area of substantial importance to contemporary games, with a focus on environments, bodies, an... more

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Recent Guests

Aditya Deshbandhu
Lecturer in Communications, Digital Media and Sociology at University of Exeter
University of Exeter, author of The 21st Century in 100 Games
Episode: Aditya Deshbandhu, "The 21st Century in 100 Games" (Routledge, 2024)
Amy Thomas
Author of Copyright, Contract and Video Games, Terms of Play
University of Glasgow / CREATE Center
Episode: Amy Thomas, "Copyright, Contract, and Video Games: Terms of Play" (Hart Publishing, 2026)
Stephanie Farnsworth
Editor of Games That Haunt Us: Gothic Game Space, No Prueble Space as a Living Nightmare
Bloomsbury
Episode: Stephanie Farnsworth, "Games That Haunt Us: Gothic Game Space as a Living Nightmare" (Bloomsbury, 2026)
Heather Shay
Assistant Professor of Sociology
South Carolina State University
Episode: Heather Shay, "Identity Building Among Role-Playing Gamers: Slaying Goblins in the Real World" (Bloomsbury, 2025)
Peter McDonald
Author of The Impossible Reversal; professor
University of Wisconsin–Madison
Episode: Peter D. McDonald, "The Impossible Reversal: A History of How We Play" (U Minnesota Press, 2026)
Carlin Wing
Author of Bounce! Balls, Walls, and Bodies in Games and Play
MIT Press
Episode: Carlin Wing, "Bounce: Balls, Walls, and Bodies in Games and Play" (MIT Press, 2026)
Kaitlin Tremblay
Author and narrative designer; narrative director at Soft Rains; author of Life is Strange
Boss Fight Books
Episode: Kaitlin Tremblay, "Life is Strange" (Boss Fight Books, 2026)
Victor Navarro-Remesal
Author of Zen and Slow Games
MIT Press (author)
Episode: Victor Navarro-Remesal, "Zen and Slow Games" (MIT Press, 2026)
Miguel Sicart
Author of Playing Software, Homo Ludens in Computational Culture (MIT Press, 2023)
IT University of Copenhagen
Episode: Miguel Sicart, "Playing Software: Homo Ludens in Computational Culture" (MIT Press, 2023)

Host

Rudolf Inderst
Host of New Books in Game Studies; professor with a focus on game studies and related fields; frequently guides scholarly conversations.

Reviews

4.8 out of 5 stars from 14 ratings
  • You dont know Aaron Trammell? Outrageous!

    Podcast Addict
    5
    Michael
    3 months ago
  • The ads

    Please, just get rid of the ads. They are at times so jarring that it really does takes away from the fascinating discussions.

    Apple Podcasts
    3
    ㅊㅎㄹ호
    United Statesa year ago

Listeners Say

Key themes from listener reviews, highlighting what works and what could be improved about the show.

Content is deeply academic and informative, but ads pull focus.
Lengthy scholarly conversations may be dense for casual listeners.
Guests are top-notch; production quality is solid.
The ads interrupt the flow, which can be jarring during deep discussions.

Chart Rankings

How this podcast ranks in the Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube charts.

Apple Podcasts
#104
Australia/Leisure/Games
Apple Podcasts
#64
Colombia/Leisure/Games
Apple Podcasts
#176
Brazil/Leisure/Games
Apple Podcasts
#188
South Africa/Leisure/Games
Apple Podcasts
#194
Denmark/Leisure/Games
Apple Podcasts
#214
Hong Kong/Leisure/Games

Talking Points

Recent interactions between the hosts and their guests.

Aditya Deshbandhu, "The 21st Century in 100 Games" (Routledge, 2024)
Q: If given a choice, would you rather be a reviewer or a researcher of games, and why?
The guest argues that both roles are deeply intertwined; he often blurs lines between reviewing and researching, using reviews as entry points for deeper study and seeing research and critique as mutually reinforcing.
Amy Thomas, "Copyright, Contract, and Video Games: Terms of Play" (Hart Publishing, 2026)
Q: How do contracts influence what counts as play and how play is experienced by players?
Play is defined by the legal content of the terms; they grant or restrict the right to interact with a game, determine what is permissible when interacting with others, and even decide whether certain actions like mods or sharing game footage are allowed, thereby shaping the social and creative possibilities within a game space.
Amy Thomas, "Copyright, Contract, and Video Games: Terms of Play" (Hart Publishing, 2026)
Q: Could you unpack what you mean by terms of play acting as a site of power and why contracts are such an important site of analysis?
Contracts in games are not just licenses; they actively shape what players can do, from modding to footage sharing, and they often encode a proprietary worldview that favors rights holders, while sometimes disguising liberal allowances. Reading them as discourse reveals who is empowered, who is constrained, and how power is legitimized or challenged in practice.
Heather Shay, "Identity Building Among Role-Playing Gamers: Slaying Goblins in the Real World" (Bloomsbury, 2025)
Q: So I was glad to have the opportunity to read this book. And I'm glad that you're willing to join me today to talk more about it. But first tell me, how did you decide to research role-playing and how did you get into role-playing games?
I decided to study gaming because I'm a table-top role-playing gamer myself, and the intersection of social psychology and inequality made gaming a perfect case to study identity work and how people understand themselves as gamers.
Stephanie Farnsworth, "Games That Haunt Us: Gothic Game Space as a Living Nightmare" (Bloomsbury, 2026)
Q: Could you briefly introduce yourself and tell us about the origins of this collection?
Stephanie Farnsworth explains that the book grew out of a PhD project and a conference titled Gothic Games, which spurred turning a strong body of abstracts into an edited collection that foregrounds Gothic space, bodies, and environments in games.

Audience Metrics

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Frequently Asked Questions About New Books in Game Studies

What is New Books in Game Studies about and what kind of topics does it cover?

Scholarly discussions focused on game studies, with guests ranging from authors to researchers discussing recent books and core concepts in the field. Conversations frequently center on theoretical frameworks, cultural history, and interdisciplinary approaches to games, play, and media, often tying insights to design practice, pedagogy, and industry trends. Notable strengths include rigorous academic analysis, clear connections between theory and broader cultural or technological shifts, and a consistent emphasis on the sociocultural dimensions of games. A unique angle is the integration of literary, cinematic, and psychological perspectives to illuminate how games shape and reflect human experience, making it useful for researchers, educat... more

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3. The Insert Credit Show
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New Books in Game Studies launched 3 years ago and published 160 episodes to date. You can find more information about this podcast including rankings, audience demographics and engagement in our podcast database.

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What guests have appeared on New Books in Game Studies?

Recent guests on New Books in Game Studies include:

1. Aditya Deshbandhu
2. Amy Thomas
3. Stephanie Farnsworth
4. Heather Shay
5. Peter McDonald
6. Carlin Wing
7. Kaitlin Tremblay
8. Victor Navarro-Remesal

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