The Sunday Sketch I made is of a whale (or just a little ball) with the tail of the whale drawn on paper. Where the name came from is pretty clear, it’s swimming on top of words/texts in different languages. The reason I chose to do this had something to do with this little clay ball you see in the photo.
This clay ball was actually something I made back in middle school. It was meant to be a little whale with a tail, but the tail broke off because the connective part was too thin and fractured when the clay was “cooked” to dry in the oven. The body part of the whale is actually hollow inside with small clay balls inside, meaning it can make sounds similar to a bell.
Anyways I’ve always thought it was unfortunate that the tail broke off of such a well-made piece, so I took this chance to give it its tail back drawn on paper. The reason why I used the newspaper/paper with text was just to save paper and make the photo a little less bland.
For this side quest, I constructed the picture around the image of an iceberg. A great portion of an iceberg is usually buried beneath the ocean surface, similar to the inner meanings that games convey. I centered the outline based on the name of the course, “Play, Make, Write, Think.” Therefore, playing the game represents only a tip of the iceberg. Through this class we were led thinking deeper beyond the ocean surface, making games and podcast episodes, writing analyses, and building reflections upon games we played.
Life involves trauma; however, how people choose to let that trauma affect them matters and how healing occurs. Gris and Gone Home are about learning to heal from traumatic events and acceptance of oneself and others; the games are about finding love and acceptance in the darkest places, such as the underwater trench or the hidden pathways of a seemingly-abandoned home.
Writing this essay, I chose to write the thesis and final paragraph first. However, I included information that I did not want as my last paragraph, so I copied it out and applied it to my first two paragraphs. There are three main parts to see, the two compare and contrast paragraphs and the final thesis and conclusion section. In each part of the compare and contrast paragraphs, I chose to compare my two main ideas. Writing this essay, I recognized the true nature of Gone Home and Terry’s important role in the story. He is such an essential piece of the entire game, and it is somewhat disappointing that I and many others overlooked him during our playthrough.
For this assignment, I listed the four main parts of the class work that helped me progress throughout the semester. It can be easily seen through these four sections, which I see as the overall writing skills, the podcasts, non-linear comprehension, and the side quests. Side quest are daily work, they are interesting little activities, but they allow for constant stimulation during down time. Overall writing skills helped me to comprehensively reflect on my poor English skills and hone them. The podcasts helped me, by utilizing teamwork, communication, analysis, and video/audio production. Lastly the non linear comprehension of the assignments benefitted me to think outside of the box and put more effort into my work without the downside of an “impossible” assignment. These portions built the class to a point of stability and likeness to where I got through.
In the episode of The Binding of Isaac, I took on the role of the main producer. With the past two episodes, our group had always split the role fairly evenly disregarding of our roles, and it was no difference this time. As the main producer, I proposed the idea of the Binding of Isaac, which was a game I have played a lot in my childhood, and again during the pandemic. With the previous experiences, our groupwork has became much more organized and efficient. This only concern was that the game may be a little inappropriate in terms of its mentions and likely negative descriptions of religion.
After meeting with Professor Morgen, we have decided that we will put the concentration on the game’s visual and audio design, its playability, and touch on the social meanings behind it, such as domestic education and abuse. For me, I have always been impressed by this game’s rogue-like design where I can play through it for multiple times without feeling repetitive. The visuals and soundtrack also gave me the creepy, eerie vibe that matches the game aesthetic perfectly. I have always wondered about the backstory behind this game, and due to this project, I had more chance to research and discuss with my groupmates. After some research, we still incorporated the backstory of the Binding of Isaac while relating it to social issues and our lives during the pandemic.
In the three podcast series our group has done, we progressed every time on our collaborative skills and efficiency in fulfilling our individual roles. All of us have became more comfortable working with each other and cooperate better with effective communication.
I absolute hate my own voice like most people, but to try and do a Russian accent is even harder when I cant hear myself. Even though it may not seemed like it this was my tenth take. I have a hard time with “public” speaking and even more so in a foreign accent. This scene is from the TF2 trailer series specifically i chose meet the heavy. It was fun but not enjoyable.
Game made using Gimp-2.10 by Yono Bulis. Inspired by Monopoly.
Rules: Claim one of the three pieces as your own.
Start at Literacy Narrative, move clockwise using dice.
You must master the following at the following tiles to move forward:
Game Comparison: Create inner meaning from two games and then use their similarities and differences to understand an important facet of recovery from trauma.
Depression Quest, Firewatch, Gone Home, Gris: Play the game.
Reflections: Write about what the game meant to you, what you think the developers were trying to say, and how you think they said it.
Movie Scene: Find your favorite movie scene and act in it, making it as real as possible.
Photo-Editing: Practice using Pixlr or Photoshop to make creative edits to photos by combining two photos.
Throw Paper: Throw paper into a wastebasket in the most creative possible way.
Visual Notes: Find the most difficult notes in all of your classes and represent them in a fun, colorful way that is difficult to forget.
Mary Flanagan: Read through Introduction to Critical Play by Flanagan and denote the main ideas. How are games defined, generally speaking?
SuperBetter: Read the first chapters of Superbetter: The Power of Living Gamefully and write about how games can help us in ways more than just hand-eye coordination.
Podcast: Create 3 Podcast episodes about games your enjoy playing – collaborate as a group member and make sure your Podcast has a claim – don’t just make it about why games are fun.
End at Player Narrative and Final Portfolio.
Works Cited
Johnson, Steven. Everything Bad Is Good for You: How Today’s Popular Culture Is Actually Making Us Smarter. pp 1-62. New York: Riverhead Books, 2005.
McGonigal, Jane. Superbetter: How a Gameful Life Can Make You Stronger, Happier, Braver and More Resilient. Element Books (UK), 2016.
For this side quest, I centered my construction around the question of “what do games teach us?”. I think that in every topic/assignment we explored in this class, we brought it back to what games offer their players. For the components of the pizza slice, I worked around the learning outcomes. Rhetorical situations was the most foundational topic we explored. Writing as a process and components of a game were also very central. For the toppings, I chose facets of this class that came out more naturally as a result of the discussions and assignments we were given.
