7 thoughts on “The Problematic Pleasures of Productivity and Efficiency in Goa and Navegador”

  1. “Abstraction can function as a creative space or a harmful erasure.”

    I’m so pleased to see the sustained analysis of eurogames in this journal, and the passage I quoted above is such a succinct and effective encapsulation of why eurogames (and, crucially, their themes) demand continued scholarly attention.

    The creative and critical analysis afforded by the genre is such an enormous treasury of potential, and it’s indescribably encouraging to see attention paid to the uniquely rich thematic qualities of these games.

    I’m passionately appreciative of the specific analysis in Foasberg’s essay above, as well as the general trend of discussing eurogames in Analog Game Studies. It’s so intensely encouraging.

  2. “It is only possible to consider these games as nonviolent because their violence is hidden, and its victims erased, in pursuit of an empty terra nullius.”

    Excellent summary of issues I am gradually becoming aware of thanks to the recent run of analysis’ of Eurogames here on Analog Game Studies. This quote also makes me think of the hidden violence in even the “pure economic” aspect so heavily emphasized in many Eurogames. Many of the economic models that Eurogames (at least thematically) nod to are/were held up by massive amounts of a variety of violences that go unacknowledged.

    I am also glad to see a further contribution to Devin Wilson’s discussion on the ability of abstraction in Eurogames as both a potential site for creativity and interpretation or disregard and exclusion. (Not that Devin started the discussion, but i particularly liked his article on Heterotopia).

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