In this episode we discuss the puzzle adventure game Blue Prince by Dogubomb. Hosts Dr. Ibi and Dr. Joe cover topics including:

• The game's world & lore
• Word play in puzzles, as clues, & for fun
• Colour semiotics
• Sign versus noise ratio
• The (un)translatability of the game

Songs that are low-key about playing Blue Prince: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6DbDTBrBK23NIV4u077vcx?si=d8ed31681e964979

Contains some strong (and other types of) language.

☕ If you would like to support us, you can buy us a coffee here: buymeacoffee.com/sayitlikeyouplayit

📺 We're also on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@SayItLikeYouPlayIt

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode we discuss a concept which has been important – but implicit – in many previous episodes: semiotics, or meaning-making through signs. Hosts Dr. Ibi and Dr. Joe cover topics including:

• The linguistic foundations and broad applications of semiotics;
• Definitions and different types of signs;
• Multi-modal semiotics in (video) games;
• Genre-specific and genre-independent semiotics;
• The relationship between signs and ludemes;
• Examples such as UI, rarity colours, and controls;

Contains some strong (and other types of) language.

☕ If you would like to support us, you can buy us a coffee here: buymeacoffee.com/sayitlikeyouplayit

📺 We're also on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@SayItLikeYouPlayIt

Resources:

Blomberg, J. 2018. 'The Semiotics of the Game Controller', Game Studies, 18(2). https://gamestudies.org/1802/articles/blomberg

Chandler, D. 'Semiotics for Beginners'. https://www.cs.princeton.edu/~chazelle/courses/BIB/semio2.htm

Hawreliak, J. (2018). Multimodal Semiotics and Rhetoric in Videogames. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315159492

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode we talk about our experience playing two language puzzle games, 'Chants of Sennaar' by Rundisc and 'Sethian' by Duang! Games, LLC . Hosts Dr. Ibi and Dr. Joe cover topics including:

• language puzzle and translation mechanics
• embedding conlangs in game worlds
• player versus player-character knowledge of conlangs
• complexity of conlangs and how to make them decipherable

Contains some strong (and other types of) language.

☕ If you would like to support us, you can buy us a coffee here: buymeacoffee.com/sayitlikeyouplayit

📺 We're also on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@SayItLikeYouPlayIt

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.