Zen and Slow Games

A deep dive into the reflective modes of playfulness in video games.

Slowness and reflectiveness have always been part of the video game medium, though they have been used very differently throughout its history. In Zen and Slow Games, Víctor Navarro-Remesal challenges the dominant discourse of action and quick reflexes in video games to offer an analysis of reflectiveness as a style in games, tracing its evolution from its origins to the present time. Two labels are of particular importance: the Zen modes (and later, Zen games) of the 2000s, especially during the Casual Revolution, and the slow games or slow gaming movement, which started in the 2010s and is ongoing today. The term “reflective games” is offered as an umbrella to bring together these and other labels to raise awareness and discussion of slow gaming.ENDORSEMENTS

“This book brilliantly explores reflective games, a style that resists capitalism’s rush by creating spaces of peace, presence, and self-discovery. It weaves form, meaning, and everyday tactics into an inspiring vision of play.”
—Susana Tosca, author of Sameness and Repetition in Contemporary Media Culture and Understanding Videogames

“A carefully crafted, profound critique of meditation and slowness in digital games, Zen and Slow Games takes us on a journey to the boundaries of the medium, detaching playfulness from the pressures of winning and performing otherwise dominant in games and contemporary societies.”
—Martin Roth, author of Unboxing Japanese Videogames and Thought-Provoking Play

“In this age of neoliberal life coaching, time management, and endless self-optimization, many of us yearn for slower, more mindful lives. How these aspirations reflect in what and how we play is the focal theme of this timely, accessible, and nimble new book.”
—Stefano Gualeni, author of Fictional Games and Il Videogioco del MondoVíctor Navarro-Remesal is a media scholar specializing in games working at TecnoCampus, Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona, Spain. He is the editor of the book series Ludografías (Shangrila) and the current president and one of the founding members of DIGRA Spain, as well as the copresident of the History of Games conference and the coeditor of Perspectives on the European Videogame.