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Kaj Sotala's avatar

Relevant keyword: https://en.wikipedia.org/wi...

The term “procedural rhetoric” was developed by Ian Bogost in his book Persuasive Games: The Expressive Power of Videogames.[3] Bogost defines procedural rhetoric as “the art of persuasion through rule-based representations and interactions, rather than the spoken word, writing, images, or moving pictures”[4] and “the art of using processes persuasively.”[5] Though Gonzalo Frasca’s preferred term of “simulation rhetoric” uses different language, the concept is the same: he envisions the authors of games as crafting laws[6] and that these authors convey ideology “by adding or leaving out manipulation rules.”[7] Frasca defines simulations as “to model a (source) system through a different system which maintains (for somebody) some of the behaviors of the original system,”[8] a definition that shows the importance of systemic procedures. [...]Bogost overwhelmingly uses video games as the medium to clarify this concept because “they embody processes and rely upon players to enact them.”[19] However, he does suggest that this theory could apply to other types of “play” and their possibility spaces: “For example, consider a game of hide-and-seek in which an older player must count for a longer time to allow younger players a better chance to hide more cleverly. This rule is not merely instrumental; it suggests a value of equity in the game and its players.”[20] Similarly, procedural rhetoric would apply to board games such as Elizabeth Magie’s The Landlord Game, a forerunner of Monopoly (game), that was designed to educate players on the negative outcomes of capitalism.

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Hamish Todd's avatar

You will probably enjoy this: https://ncase.me/polygons/ it is a simulation based on the Thomas Schelling board game-like model.

It is similar to a few pages your friend Kevin Simler has made but a bit better!

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