In this episode we take a close look at the&nbsp;online collectible card&nbsp;game 'Hearthstone', which is part of Blizzard Entertainment's 'Warcraft' franchise, and three research papers which study the game in relation to language and communication. Hosts Dr. Ibi and Dr. Joe cover topics including: <ul><li>Humour, puns, and wordplay in Hearthstone;</li><li>Linguistic differences between rule texts and flavour texts;</li><li>The functions and forms of keywords and card names;</li><li>Localization, with a focus on the use of Kanji in Japanese;</li><li>Communicative affordances and limitations of the in-game emote system;</li><li>Players' perceptions of "bad manners"; </li><li>Qualitative versus quantitative research approaches and the obstacles of research cultures;</li></ul> 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: Arjoranta, J., &amp; Siitonen, M. (2018). Why do players misuse emotes in Hearthstone? Negotiating the use of communicative affordances in an online multiplayer game. Game Studies, 18(2). Available here: <a href="https://gamestudies.org/1802/articles/arjoranta_siitonen" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://gamestudies.org/1802/articles/arjoranta_siitonen</a>. Jacquin, J., &amp; Xanthos, A. (2021). Evolution of linguistic complexity in Hearthstone: a resource and an example in linguistic game studies. Digital Scholarship in the Humanities, 36(4), 907-918. Available here: <a href="https://serval.unil.ch/resource/serval:BIB_FA8B6BCC9CA2.P001/REF.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://serval.unil.ch/resource/serval:BIB_FA8B6BCC9CA2.P001/REF.pdf</a> Robertson, W. (2020). Unspeakable puns: kanji-dependent wordplay as a localization strategy in Japanese. Perspectives, 28(4), 606-624. DOI: <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/0907676X.2018.1548628" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://doi.org/10.1080/0907676X.2018.1548628</a>. 'German translations messy since last update', forum thread: <a href="https://us.forums.blizzard.com/en/hearthstone/t/german-translations-messy-since-last-update/126281" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://us.forums.blizzard.com/en/hearthstone/t/german-translations-messy-since-last-update/126281</a>.

Hearthstone deep dive: when game studies meets linguistics

In this episode we discuss our experiences of using language-learning apps. Hosts Dr. Ibi and Dr. Joe cover topics including: <ul><li>What is gamification?</li><li>Loss aversion, quizzes, and immersive learning</li><li>The (im)balance between vocabulary and grammar</li><li>Different needs for different audiences</li><li>Apps such as Duolingo, LingoLegends, Memrise, Influent, and Earthlingo</li></ul> Contains some strong (and other types of) language. 📜 If you would like more Say It Like You Play It content, you can find our BLOG here: https://ibibaxterwebb.wordpress.com/blog-podcast/ ☕ 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 Further resources: Alvi, I. (2022). Gamification interaction features in language learning apps, brand engagement, and brand-consumer relationship quality. Journal of Content, Community and Communication, 15(8), 210-226. Available via: <a href="https://www.amity.edu/gwalior/jccc/pdf/june-2022-15.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.amity.edu/gwalior/jccc/pdf/june-2022-15.pdf</a>. Shortt, M., Tilak, S., Kuznetcova, I., Martens, B., &amp; Akinkuolie, B. (2023). Gamification in mobile-assisted language learning: A systematic review of Duolingo literature from public release of 2012 to early 2020. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 36(3), 517-554. DOI: <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/09588221.2021.1933540" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://doi.org/10.1080/09588221.2021.1933540</a>.

Gamified language learning: neither fun nor educational?

In this episode we discuss Carl Muckenhoupt's challenging 'The Gostak'; a text-based adventure game in which the player has to decipher a gibberish version of English. Hosts Dr. Ibi and Dr. Joe cover topics including: <ul><li>How the game works</li><li>Translation as game mechanic</li><li>The syntax of English and what it tells us about the meaning of words</li><li>Verb transitivity, direct objects, and indirect objects </li><li>Thinking of nouns and verbs as building blocks of games more generally </li></ul> If you would like to play 'The Gostak' youself, you can do so on the Interactive Fiction DataBase: <a href="https://ifdb.org/viewgame?id=w5s3sv43s3p98v45#:~:text=The%20reference%20is%20to%20the,can%20be%20distimmed%20by%20a" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://ifdb.org/viewgame?id=w5s3sv43s3p98v45#:~:text=The%20reference%20is%20to%20the,can%20be%20distimmed%20by%20a</a> Contains some strong (and other type types of) language. 📜 If you would like more Say It Like You Play It content, you can find our BLOG here: https://ibibaxterwebb.wordpress.com/blog-podcast/ ☕ 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: Ingraham, A. (1903). Swain school lectures. Open Court Publishing Company. Available at: <a href="https://archive.org/details/swainschoollectu00ingruoft" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://archive.org/details/swainschoollectu00ingruoft</a> Ogden, C. K., &amp; Richards, I. A. (1927).&nbsp;The Meaning of Meaning: A Study of the Influence of Language upon Thought and of the Science of Symbolism. Harcourt, Brace. Tenielle Fordyce-Ruff, Tenielle. ‘Beyond the Basics: Transitive, Intransitive, Ditransitive and Ambitransitive Verbs’. The Advocate, Feb. 2015, p. 54-55. Available at: <a href="https://digitalcommons.csp.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1015&amp;context=lawfaculty" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://digitalcommons.csp.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1015&amp;context=lawfaculty</a>

'The gostak distims the doshes': deciphering gibberish-English in a text-based adventure game

In this episode, we talk about the representation of real cultures in video games. Hosts Dr. Ibi and Dr. Joe discuss: <ul><li>The scope of ‘culture’, from architecture to penis jokes</li><li>Nationality, regionality, mainstream, and stereotypes</li><li>Accents and how people feel about them</li><li>Games such as Grand Theft Auto, Assassin’s Creed, Life is Strange, Thank Goodness You’re Here, Night in the Woods.</li></ul> Contains some strong (and other type types of) language. 📜 If you would like more Say It Like You Play It content, you can find our BLOG here: https://ibibaxterwebb.wordpress.com/blog-podcast/ ☕ 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:&nbsp; Bardwell, Thomas. 2020. 'Why Do the Children in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla Have American Accents?'. URL: https://www.ccn.com/why-do-the-children-in-assassins-creed-valhalla-have-american-accents/ Moser, Cassidy. 2017. 'Ubisoft Discusses the Lack of French Accents in Assassin's Creed Unity'. URL: https://www.ign.com/articles/2014/09/15/ubisoft-discusses-the-lack-of-french-accents-in-assassins-creed-unity Spencer-Oatey, Helen. 2008. Culturally Speaking. Culture, Communication and Politeness Theory. London: Continuum. Williams, Raymond. 1976. Keywords: A Vocabulary of Culture and Society. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Real cultures in games: humour, accents, and how you hold your pizza

In this episode, we talk about social simulation in games, taking as our starting point Mitu Khandaker's talk ‘Thinking about people: Designing games for social simulation’. Hosts Dr. Ibi and Dr. Joe discuss: <ul><li>What’s a social sim?</li><li>Autonomous behaviour versus authored branching stories</li><li>Social simulation in tabletop games</li><li>What are NPCs for?</li><li>The multiple functions of communication and interaction in real life and games</li><li>Games such as The Sims, Baldur's Gate 3, Skyrim, Dragon Age, Redshirts, and Ctrl.Alt.DEL</li></ul> Contains some strong (and other type types of) language. 📜 If you would like more Say It Like You Play It content, you can find our BLOG here: https://ibibaxterwebb.wordpress.com/blog-podcast/ ☕ 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:&nbsp; Jakobson, Roman. 1960.&nbsp;‘Linguistics and poetics’. In&nbsp;T. Seboek (ed.) Style in Language, MIT Press, 350-377.Available at: https://www.academia.edu/download/33061075/Jakobson_Eks_15_F12.pdf Khandaker, Mitu. 2015 ‘Thinking about people: Designing games for social simulation’, Game Developers Conference, San Francisco.Video available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=haNy1kSHMt8&amp;t=2591s&nbsp; Mathiot, Madeleine &amp; Garvin, Paul L. 1975. ‘The functions of language: A sociocultural view’,&nbsp;Anthropological Quarterly, 48(3). 148–156. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/3316921 Searle, John R. 1975. ‘A taxonomy of illocutionary acts.’ In K. Gunderson (ed.) Language, Mind, and Knowledge, University of Minnesota Press, 344–369.

Social simulation in games: what is it and why isn’t there more of it?

In this episode we try to wrap our heads around the concept of 'ludemes'. Hosts Dr. Ibi and Dr. Joe discuss: <ul><li>The origins of the term 'ludeme'</li><li>Different games scholars' and game designers' definitions of ludemes</li><li>Comparisons between ludemes, memes, genes, and linguistic concepts such as phonemes and morphemes</li><li>Underlying metaphors used to describe games as systems, such as ‘game as language’ and ‘game as organism’</li><li>The ‘language as organism’ metaphor in historical linguistics</li><li>The economy of metaphors in academia</li></ul> Contains some strong (and other type types of) language. 📜 If you would like more Say It Like You Play It content, you can find our BLOG here: https://ibibaxterwebb.wordpress.com/blog-podcast/ ☕ 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:&nbsp; Bojin, Nis. 2010. ‘Ludemes and the Linguistic Turn’. Futureplay '10: Proceedings of the International Academic Conference on the Future of Game Design andTechnology, Vancouver, 25–32. DOI: <a href="https://doi.org/10.1145/1920778.1920783" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://doi.org/10.1145/1920778.1920783</a>&nbsp; Browne, Cameron. 2021. ‘Everything’s a Ludeme. Well, Almost Everything’. Proceedings of the XIIIrd Board Game Studies Colloquium (BGS 2021), Paris.&nbsp;Available at: <a href="https://sorbonne-paris-nord.hal.science/hal-03737317/document" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://sorbonne-paris-nord.hal.science/hal-03737317/document</a> Depaulis, Thierry. 2019. ‘On the Origins of the Word ‘Ludeme’ (French Ludème)’. In Browne et al., Foundations of Digital Archaeoludology. Report on Dagstuhl Research Meeting, Saarbrucken, 23–26. DOI: <a href="https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.1905.13516" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.1905.13516</a>Available at: <a href="https://arxiv.org/pdf/1905.13516" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://arxiv.org/pdf/1905.13516</a> Koster, Raph. 2005. Conference notes for ‘A Grammar of Gameplay (Game Atoms: Can Games be Dia- grammed?)’. Game Developers Conference (GDC ’05), San Francisco. <a href="https://www.theoryoffun.com/grammar/gdc2005.htm" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.theoryoffun.com/grammar/gdc2005.htm</a>&nbsp; Koster, Raph. 2006. 'A bit on how I think games work' <a href="https://www.raphkoster.com/2006/03/05/a-bit-on-how-i-think-games-work/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.raphkoster.com/2006/03/05/a-bit-on-how-i-think-games-work/</a> Koster, Raph. 2006. Comment made March 7, 2006 at 2:44 pm<a href="https://www.raphkoster.com/2006/03/05/a-bit-on-how-i-think-games-work/#comment-3827" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.raphkoster.com/2006/03/05/a-bit-on-how-i-think-games-work/#comment-3827</a> Koster, Raph. 2006. Comment made March 7, 2006 at 4:26 pm<a href="https://www.raphkoster.com/2006/03/05/a-bit-on-how-i-think-games-work/#comment-3836" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.raphkoster.com/2006/03/05/a-bit-on-how-i-think-games-work/#comment-3836</a> Parlett, David. 2006. ‘What’s a ludeme?’ <a href="https://www.parlettgames.uk/gamester/whatsaludeme.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.parlettgames.uk/gamester/whatsaludeme.html</a>

Ludemes, ‘game as language’, and other metaphors

In this episode we discuss the brilliant Heaven's Vault; a narrative adventure videogame about decyphering a constructed language in order to learn the history of a fantastical world. Hosts Dr. Ibi and Dr. Joe cover topics including: <ul><li>How the game works</li><li>Ideographic vs Alphabetic writing systems</li><li>Semantics and Morphology in language</li><li>Science fiction, media representation, and attempts at avoiding orientalism</li><li>Translation and archaeology as game mechanics</li></ul> To hear Jon Ingold of Inkle talk about Bladerunner and writing game dialogue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vRfNtvFVRoFor an excellent GDC talk on the making of the game: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o02uJ-ktCuk Contains some strong (and other type types of) language. 📜 If you would like more Say It Like You Play It content, you can find our BLOG here: https://ibibaxterwebb.wordpress.com/blog-podcast/ ☕ 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: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, n.d. 'Language in brief'. https://www.asha.org/practice-portal/clinical-topics/spoken-language-disorders/language-in-brief/. Accessed 11 September 2024. Condis, Megan. 2016. Building Languages, Building Worlds: An Interview with Jessica Sams.&nbsp;Resilience: A Journal of the Environmental Humanities,&nbsp;4(1), 150–161. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5250/resilience.4.1.0150 Daniels, Peter T., 2017. Writing systems. In&nbsp;Mark Aronoff and &nbsp;Janie Rees-Miller (eds.), The Handbook of Linguistics. Wiley, 75-94. Olson, David R., 23 Aug. 2024. 'writing'. In Encyclopedia Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/topic/writing. Accessed 11 September 2024. Rogers, Stephen D., 2011. The Dictionary of Made-Up Languages: from Adunaic to Elvish, Zaum to Klingon—The Anwa (Real) Origins of Invented Lexicons. Simon and Schuster. Rowe, Bruce M., &amp; Levine, Diane P., 2022. A Concise Introduction to Linguistics. Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003268369. Schreyer, Christine, 2021. Constructed languages. Annual Review of Anthropology, 50(1), 327-344.&nbsp;DOI: https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-anthro-101819-110152.

Deciphering the Nebula: language, history and narratology in Heaven’s Vault

In this episode we discuss the languages used in Baldur's Gate 3, and in Dungeons &amp; Dragons more broadly. Hosts Dr. Ibi and Dr. Joe cover topics including: <ul><li>What is a lingua franca?</li><li>What is a constructed language?</li><li>Fantasy races (species) and the signs and sounds they make.</li><li>How the needs of tabletop roleplay leave D&amp;D's designers to "leave something to the imagination".</li></ul> Contains some strong and other types of language. 📜 If you would like more Say It Like You Play It content, you can find our BLOG here: https://ibibaxterwebb.wordpress.com/blog-podcast/ ☕ 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: Cheyne, Ria, 2008. Created languages in science fiction. Science Fiction Studies, 35(3), 386-403. Gobbo, Federico, 2005. The European Union's need for an international auxiliary language. Journal of Universal Language, 6, 1-28. URL: https://iris.unito.it/bitstream/2318/1715700/1/J.2005.2.gobbo2005-jul-unish-edition.pdf Monson, Melissa J., 2012. Race-based fantasy realm: Essentialism in the World of Warcraft. Games and Culture, 7(1), 48-71. URL: https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?repid=rep1&amp;type=pdf&amp;doi=1023f3922c7417dcc752eb8da9557520b07a3a52 Premont, Antoine and Heine, Samuel, 2021. The human fantasy: Exploring race and ethnicity through Dungeons &amp; Dragons. In Proceedings of the 16th International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games, 1-11. URL: https://dl.acm.org/action/showFmPdf?doi=10.1145%2F3472538 Rogers, Stephen D., 2011. The Dictionary of Made-Up Languages: from Adunaic to Elvish, Zaum to Klingon—The Anwa (Real) Origins of Invented Lexicons. Simon and Schuster. Schreyer, Christine, 2021. Constructed languages. Annual Review of Anthropology, 50(1), 327-344. Young, Helen, 2015. Race and popular fantasy literature: Habits of whiteness. Routledge.

From Elfsperanto to Orcstralian: The Languages of D&D

Games, Language, and Culture. 

The podcast about games, language and culture. With hosts Dr. Ibi and Dr. Joe. Dr. Ibi has a Ph.D. in Linguistics and likes to play games. Dr. Joe has a Ph.D. in Media &amp; Cultural studies, and designs games for a living. 📜 If you would like more Say It Like You Play It content, you can find our BLOG here: https://ibibaxterwebb.wordpress.com/blog-podcast/ ☕ 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

Say It Like You Play It

Follow