board games are second nature to us ludologists, so it's easy to forget that the average person probably only knows Agricola and one or two Vlaadas.
and Brass, of course.
of course.
joke co-workshopped with @hellenus.bsky.social
and Brass, of course.
of course.
joke co-workshopped with @hellenus.bsky.social
November 19, 2024 at 10:06 AM
board games are second nature to us ludologists, so it's easy to forget that the average person probably only knows Agricola and one or two Vlaadas.
and Brass, of course.
of course.
joke co-workshopped with @hellenus.bsky.social
and Brass, of course.
of course.
joke co-workshopped with @hellenus.bsky.social
shh you'll rouse the ludologists
September 7, 2026 at 3:27 PM
shh you'll rouse the ludologists
28/ opinion: in the fight between ludologists and narrativists that occurred in game academia we usually say ludologists won.
I say both lost. Content is just as important as mechanics, but instead of trying to reconcile the two we have games pasting story on top of mechanics and calling it a day.
I say both lost. Content is just as important as mechanics, but instead of trying to reconcile the two we have games pasting story on top of mechanics and calling it a day.
January 25, 2025 at 1:10 AM
28/ opinion: in the fight between ludologists and narrativists that occurred in game academia we usually say ludologists won.
I say both lost. Content is just as important as mechanics, but instead of trying to reconcile the two we have games pasting story on top of mechanics and calling it a day.
I say both lost. Content is just as important as mechanics, but instead of trying to reconcile the two we have games pasting story on top of mechanics and calling it a day.
Hey Ludologists!
@ericabouyouris.bsky.social and @senfoonglim.bsky.social are recording a live AMA at @breakoutcon.bsky.social (Toronto, Saturday, 11:00 AM ET (UTC -5) in the Elgin room). If you can't ask us questions at the con, drop a question here and we'll try to get it asked and answered!
@ericabouyouris.bsky.social and @senfoonglim.bsky.social are recording a live AMA at @breakoutcon.bsky.social (Toronto, Saturday, 11:00 AM ET (UTC -5) in the Elgin room). If you can't ask us questions at the con, drop a question here and we'll try to get it asked and answered!
March 13, 2025 at 2:34 AM
Hey Ludologists!
@ericabouyouris.bsky.social and @senfoonglim.bsky.social are recording a live AMA at @breakoutcon.bsky.social (Toronto, Saturday, 11:00 AM ET (UTC -5) in the Elgin room). If you can't ask us questions at the con, drop a question here and we'll try to get it asked and answered!
@ericabouyouris.bsky.social and @senfoonglim.bsky.social are recording a live AMA at @breakoutcon.bsky.social (Toronto, Saturday, 11:00 AM ET (UTC -5) in the Elgin room). If you can't ask us questions at the con, drop a question here and we'll try to get it asked and answered!
Yeah this sort of etymology is pretty common for gaming terms that entered the west in the late Middle Ages; early ludologists were writing in Latin but working with concepts first explored in Arabic (or sometimes being calques in that language from Persian)
November 28, 2023 at 8:10 PM
Yeah this sort of etymology is pretty common for gaming terms that entered the west in the late Middle Ages; early ludologists were writing in Latin but working with concepts first explored in Arabic (or sometimes being calques in that language from Persian)
Spielstock, the City of a Thousand Games. Ruled by clans of rival ludologists and their dice wielding Street Gangs.
February 10, 2024 at 12:03 PM
Spielstock, the City of a Thousand Games. Ruled by clans of rival ludologists and their dice wielding Street Gangs.
the plush ludologists are coming up with a word for "video games that make you choose between three things"
July 20, 2025 at 7:32 PM
the plush ludologists are coming up with a word for "video games that make you choose between three things"
everything is turtles, and those turtles are the debate between the narratologists and the ludologists.
There is... No Escape™
patreon.com/noescapevg
There is... No Escape™
patreon.com/noescapevg
November 3, 2025 at 12:56 AM
everything is turtles, and those turtles are the debate between the narratologists and the ludologists.
There is... No Escape™
patreon.com/noescapevg
There is... No Escape™
patreon.com/noescapevg
cathy asking the really deep philosophical questions i am not equipped to answer and neither is anyone really lmao. afaik, ludologists haven't got a definition for this one because complex things resist being defined by simple easy boxes. i'd be delighted to learn i'm wrong
July 1, 2025 at 4:12 AM
cathy asking the really deep philosophical questions i am not equipped to answer and neither is anyone really lmao. afaik, ludologists haven't got a definition for this one because complex things resist being defined by simple easy boxes. i'd be delighted to learn i'm wrong
Our #ArchiveOfTheWeek is a surprise find: a while ago, we found a playing card subbing as a bookmark in a 17th century manor court roll https://recordoffice.wordpress.com/2016/02/15/9-of-diamonds-discovered-in-court-book/
Any #cartophilists or #ludologists out there who can shed light on its age?
Any #cartophilists or #ludologists out there who can shed light on its age?
August 18, 2026 at 9:45 AM
Our #ArchiveOfTheWeek is a surprise find: a while ago, we found a playing card subbing as a bookmark in a 17th century manor court roll https://recordoffice.wordpress.com/2016/02/15/9-of-diamonds-discovered-in-court-book/
Any #cartophilists or #ludologists out there who can shed light on its age?
Any #cartophilists or #ludologists out there who can shed light on its age?
As Con season is upon us, @senfoonglim.bsky.social and @ericabouyouris.bsky.social will be taking a hiatus on the main show for August, but don't you worry, Ludologists! We're be releasing more episodes of Pros & Cons over the the month of August. We've got you!
July 27, 2024 at 9:31 PM
As Con season is upon us, @senfoonglim.bsky.social and @ericabouyouris.bsky.social will be taking a hiatus on the main show for August, but don't you worry, Ludologists! We're be releasing more episodes of Pros & Cons over the the month of August. We've got you!
LUDOLOGISTS FOR BATTLEBOND 2 ASSEMBLE
October 2, 2025 at 4:31 PM
LUDOLOGISTS FOR BATTLEBOND 2 ASSEMBLE
Well — when a prominent game scholar publicly declared ludology ”forever unwelcome” based on strange intersectionalist reasoning, I did get long-term pissed.
But ludologists gotta ludologize.
But ludologists gotta ludologize.
June 17, 2025 at 1:30 PM
Well — when a prominent game scholar publicly declared ludology ”forever unwelcome” based on strange intersectionalist reasoning, I did get long-term pissed.
But ludologists gotta ludologize.
But ludologists gotta ludologize.
Funny how people keep questioning that elementary idea despite VOLUMES of work by ludologists and other experts that explain gameplay and reject the ridiculous notion of a game with no gameplay. It's just imposible.
July 1, 2026 at 12:34 PM
Funny how people keep questioning that elementary idea despite VOLUMES of work by ludologists and other experts that explain gameplay and reject the ridiculous notion of a game with no gameplay. It's just imposible.
Ludologists! @ericabouyouris.bsky.social and I are on vacation until mid-January, so we're releasing our exclusive Patreon content - interviews with Andy Kim, the @unpub.bsky.social crew, Indy Game Lab, and Kristen Mott - over the holidays. Check out www.ludology.net every Sunday for new podcasts!
Ludology
Welcome to Ludology, an analytical discussion of the how’s and why’s of the world of board games. Rather than news and reviews, Ludology explores a variety of topics about games from a wider lens,...
www.ludology.net
December 22, 2023 at 6:51 PM
Ludologists! @ericabouyouris.bsky.social and I are on vacation until mid-January, so we're releasing our exclusive Patreon content - interviews with Andy Kim, the @unpub.bsky.social crew, Indy Game Lab, and Kristen Mott - over the holidays. Check out www.ludology.net every Sunday for new podcasts!
I am intrigued. Lyrical? Interesting. TIL there’s a study of games. Does that make us ludologists? I’ll definitely be listening to this tomorrow. I think my next game or 2 might fall into this artsy lyrical area
March 23, 2024 at 6:56 PM
I am intrigued. Lyrical? Interesting. TIL there’s a study of games. Does that make us ludologists? I’ll definitely be listening to this tomorrow. I think my next game or 2 might fall into this artsy lyrical area
You're actually in luck since many of the world's foremost ludologists are based in Denmark (ITU's Center for Computer Games Research being top of the field), with the likes of @jesperjuul.bsky.social and @miguelsicart.bsky.social and others having had to deal with this exact question ad nauseam.
December 26, 2025 at 12:38 AM
You're actually in luck since many of the world's foremost ludologists are based in Denmark (ITU's Center for Computer Games Research being top of the field), with the likes of @jesperjuul.bsky.social and @miguelsicart.bsky.social and others having had to deal with this exact question ad nauseam.
One of the signs that somebody needed more words in scientific game studies texts is the mention of the conflict between narratologists and ludologists, which is often portrayed as a big disagreement of two parties, when it was... Not that big
May 16, 2025 at 8:39 PM
One of the signs that somebody needed more words in scientific game studies texts is the mention of the conflict between narratologists and ludologists, which is often portrayed as a big disagreement of two parties, when it was... Not that big
game studies scholars love saying that the ludologists were obsessed with code, when really they were obsessed with rules in the abstract. the only scholar i've ever seen cite source code is seth giddings, who is hardly a ludologist.
December 21, 2024 at 6:44 PM
game studies scholars love saying that the ludologists were obsessed with code, when really they were obsessed with rules in the abstract. the only scholar i've ever seen cite source code is seth giddings, who is hardly a ludologist.
I don't think it really has a meaning that can be separated from self-described ludologists picking fights or having fights picked with them and a bunch of social media nonsense. It's not a real school of thought it's a faction of people who sometimes annoy others.
August 29, 2025 at 2:17 PM
I don't think it really has a meaning that can be separated from self-described ludologists picking fights or having fights picked with them and a bunch of social media nonsense. It's not a real school of thought it's a faction of people who sometimes annoy others.
I gotta crack that historiography tome open to develop this take, but I've had the impression that it was mostly (maybe only) the ludologists who were assigning people to the other side. Saying otherwise seems like both-sidesing the "debate". But I agree with with you on the usefulness of the frame.
December 9, 2025 at 11:47 AM
I gotta crack that historiography tome open to develop this take, but I've had the impression that it was mostly (maybe only) the ludologists who were assigning people to the other side. Saying otherwise seems like both-sidesing the "debate". But I agree with with you on the usefulness of the frame.
Ludology and gaming culture tend to be in a bit different ends of game studies. Ludologists tend to focus on games themselves, and gaming culture happens … around … games.
In our (free!) ludology book on rules, we try to broaden ludology a bit towards social phenomena.
In our (free!) ludology book on rules, we try to broaden ludology a bit towards social phenomena.
The Rule Book: The Building Blocks of Games
How games are built on the foundations of rules, and how rules—of which there are only five kinds—really work.Board games to sports, digital games to party
direct.mit.edu
May 11, 2026 at 8:59 PM
Ludology and gaming culture tend to be in a bit different ends of game studies. Ludologists tend to focus on games themselves, and gaming culture happens … around … games.
In our (free!) ludology book on rules, we try to broaden ludology a bit towards social phenomena.
In our (free!) ludology book on rules, we try to broaden ludology a bit towards social phenomena.
@omnicr.one como que tá indo o EU5? tou vendo a galera cair numa discussão nível "ludologists × narratologists" de deprimente
December 19, 2025 at 2:10 PM
@omnicr.one como que tá indo o EU5? tou vendo a galera cair numa discussão nível "ludologists × narratologists" de deprimente
what many celebrated ludologists would refer to as a "scrimblo mcjrpgguy" game
September 21, 2024 at 4:08 AM
what many celebrated ludologists would refer to as a "scrimblo mcjrpgguy" game