Beyond the Rulebook: An Autoethnographic Journey into the Craft of Game Design

Abstract

This paper is an entry into the recent discussion (Miltiadis, 2023; Perez, 2023) within game studies about the apparent disconnect between the theory and practice of game design. In response to a call for the field to embrace a research through design methodology to strengthen the dialog between game scholars and designers this paper explores the potential of autoethnography for examining the practice of game design in terms of the ability to reflect on game design from a perspective more immediately relatable to game design practitioners. The paper demonstrates how the autoethnographic method and style of writing may provide new types of productive encounters between the theory and practice of game design.