Representation in Games

The workshop aims to bring together philosophers and game researchers and look at the philosophical status of the notion of representation in games. Example questions that we wish to examine during the workshop are:

• What are the specific features of representation in games (if any)?
• What mechanism is responsible for representation in games – how do games (or game elements) represent?
• What are the targets of game representation – do games (or their elements) represent reality, fictional entities, digital states of the computer, or something else?
• Does the technology used to produce games influence their representational status – is there an essential difference between representation in text games, 2D games, 3D games, or VR?
• Which parts of games should be considered as representational? Can game mechanics represent reality – if so, what are their targets?
• Is there a difference between representation in games and other digital objects?
• What is the representational status of the player’s actions in games? Which actions count as representations and which ones as virtual equivalents of real actions?
• How does the concept of representation in games differ from the concept of representation in science?
• If games are hybrids of simulations and fiction – which aspect should be given priority when we analyze their representational capacities?
• What is the status of representations of fictional objects in games – should they be accounted for in a similar way researchers do it in the case of other media or do they require special treatment?
• To what extent can existing theories of representation be applied to games, and how must they be complemented to best fit this domain?