Well Played

Though often viewed as special category of games, sports is really an approach to play. The popular conception of the sporting mindset puts certain values ahead of others, and positioning games as a means to an end rather than an experience unto itself. Sometimes, the sporting mindset brings out the best in us; sometimes, the worst. Escape the Room games are popular all over the world, from New York to Kuala Lumpur, and have been created for all kinds of spaces. Although they are now thought of as a popular activity to do with friends, their origins are actually digital—its conventions derived from interactive fiction and point-and-click adventure games, and became its own genre of web games in the early 2000s. Their non-digital incarnations have taken the form of real rooms that invite participants to solve their puzzles to get out, and then have expanded to board games. This makes the escape the room genre a fascinating area of study and design, given how its history spans both videogames and physical games. This special issue includes analyses and studies of escape the room games, either digital and non-digital, from all over the world. The Well Played Journal is a forum for in-depth close readings of video games that parse out the various meanings to be found in the experience of playing a game. It is a reviewed journal with CfPs for submissions that will be released on a regular basis with high-quality essays.