Chapter 8

Compare the following mazes:

http://www.mudge.screaming.net/Amiens.gif

http://puzzles.50webs.org/pics/mzfig04.png

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/75/cf/00/75cf00c61c0366c04b993c88c1b12410.jpg

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LzenCqa3qCs/UUJO_H64QsI/AAAAAAAADSc/N5LZ8RTdq3I/s1600/Strike20mp_strike.png

Describe the differences in the paths that people can take through the maze, and consider the kinds of life skills being practiced by traversing the maze. Does the location of the maze in church, garden, or digital game affect what is being taught and learned? What is the purpose of each maze and finding a path through it?

Play Monument Valley and another smart phone game app. Think about what elements of modernity are addressed by the games thematically, the kinds of agency and constraints in the game, the skills the games teach players, and develop an argument about what makes them fun.

Compare them in terms of:

  1. The moral stakes of the game
  2. The architecture and its uses
  3. The avatar’s characteristics
  4. The gender imaginaries
  5. The quest and how it is achieved
  6. The deceptions and tricks
  7. The measures of success