korrents

Frank Lantz

@frank-lantz · 9 positions · 0 changes of mind

Game designer and writer, founder of the NYU Game Center, creator of Universal Paperclips and Drop7, and author of The Beauty of Games. Writes about games as an aesthetic form at his newsletter Donkeyspace.

Frank Lantz did not write this page.

We collected these quotes from things they published elsewhere, and every quote links to where it was said. They have no account here and have not endorsed this site. Quotes are word for word; the short line under each one is our own restatement, not their wording. Their own site. Is this you? Claim it or ask us to remove it. Or tell us what is wrong here.

  1. Our reading

    The video game audience has come to embrace the medium’s worst traits as emblems of the hobby rather than treat them as flaws.

    Their wordsSo many of the worst things about video games are not just reluctantly tolerated but enthusiastically embraced because, through association, they have become emblems of our beloved hobby/artform/lifestyle.

    ↗Are Games Bad?franklantz.substack.com 1st of 2 in this piece

    Interesting

  3. Our reading

    Video games are the cathedrals of the modern world and nobody yet knows what they are for.

    Their wordsThey are the cathedrals of the modern world. Only we don’t know what they are for.

    ↗Are Games Bad?franklantz.substack.com 2nd of 2 in this piece

    Interesting
  4. 3 months earlier

  5. Our reading

    Games should not be measured against any outside yardstick — not purpose, not pleasure, not politics.

    Their wordsIn my approach, I resist using any external value framework as an ultimate set of criteria against which to measure games’ worth - not purpose, not pleasure, not politics.

    ↗Are Games Good?franklantz.substack.com 1st of 5 in this piece

    politics

    Interesting

  7. Our reading

    Games do not make the world a better place; like other art forms, they make the world.

    Their wordsI don’t think games make the world a better place, it’s actually much worse than that, I think games, like other artforms, make the world a place.

    ↗Are Games Good?franklantz.substack.com 2nd of 5 in this piece

    Interesting

  9. Our reading

    Designed addiction in gambling games is real and can consume a person’s life.

    Their wordsThe world is full of gambling games that want to crawl into your limbic system and drain every last ounce of life-force from your soul.

    ↗Are Games Good?franklantz.substack.com 3rd of 5 in this piece

    Addiction

    Interesting

  11. Our reading

    Anyone who wants to understand games should learn to play the compulsive ones and, in the same motion, learn how to stop.

    Their wordsBut I also think that, if you really want to understand games, you should learn how to play these games. Which means learning how to stop playing them. You should learn how to disappear into them, how to let them swallow you whole, and then learn how to extract yourself, safely, on the other side.

    ↗Are Games Good?franklantz.substack.com 4th of 5 in this piece

    Interesting

  13. Our reading

    Games are hard to see clearly, and the usual tools for looking at them distort as much as they reveal.

    Their wordsI think that it is difficult to see games clearly.

    ↗Are Games Good?franklantz.substack.com 5th of 5 in this piece

    Interesting
  14. 3 months earlier

  15. Our reading

    Games are the natural habitat of artificial intelligence, because following rules towards an arbitrary goal is what these systems do.

    Their wordsGames are AI’s natural habitat.

    ↗How to Play a Gamefranklantz.substack.com 1st of 2 in this piece

    Interesting

  17. Our reading

    A strategy does not play a game; playing requires something that can see the game and choose to enter it.

    Their wordsIt doesn’t make sense to say that a strategy plays a game.

    ↗How to Play a Gamefranklantz.substack.com 2nd of 2 in this piece

    Interesting