Book Club: The Beauty of Games by Frank Lantz

In the first “book club” episode, Andy, Anthony, and Parker talk about The Beauty of Games by Frank Lantz. The book sets out to defend the thesis that games are artistic works (or, more descriptively, “aesthetic works”) worth the same level of appreciation as other art forms and teach sophisticated, systems-thinking. After reading the book, our hosts talk about what they took away from the book and some aspects they were a little more critical of. Thank you to the listeners who joined the book club and send in their own takes! Cards mentioned in this episode. Discussed in this episode: The Beauty of Games by Frank Lantz Serpentes QWOP Junkbot (Flash Game) Law of the Instrument Episode 206: The Joy of Gaming with Richard Garfield Sturgeon’s Law The Selfish Gene Games and the Art of Agency Armored Core The Narcissism of Minor Differences Skip Barber Racing School Andy’s 5 Color Starter Decks Game Theory Your Brain is Hardwired to Love Games with Kelly Clancy Universal Paperclips Nose Dive by Harold McGee A Pattern Language by Christopher Alexander Timestamps 0:00 - Introduction 4:13 - What is a book club, anyway? 5:51 - Summary of The Beauty of Games 9:17 - Do we need to defend the p…