Digital Games Enter Polish Schools’ Reading Lists Cover Image

Gry cyfrowe wkraczają do kanonu lektur szkolnych (Recenzja: „This War of Mine”, prod. 11 bit studios, 2014)
Digital Games Enter Polish Schools’ Reading Lists

Author(s): Eleonora Teresa Imbierowicz
Subject(s): Review, General Reference Works
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Wrocławskiego
Keywords: digital games; video games; game studies; obligatory school reading; serious games

Summary/Abstract: This War of Mine, a critically acclaimed game by 11 bit studios, is the first game to be on the list of supplementary school readings in Poland. The game released in 2014 is an anti-war narrative built around the story of a group of civilians trying to survive the war in Pogoren, city based on wartorn Sarajevo. The game is unique in its mechanics as well as in its serious treatment of death and suffering, but can also be played for pleasure and in that matter is not moralistic, but entertaining. It is an ideal game to offer young people, both as a means of developing their sensitivity and as an encouragement to seek pleasure in experiencing narratives. However, it also fits with other school readings on the cruelty of war, and thus there is a risk it will be used as other texts have been — as a story to make teenagers think about war as a formative experience which makes one a true Pole.

  • Issue Year: 27/2021
  • Issue No: 1
  • Page Range: 509-513
  • Page Count: 5
  • Language: Polish
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