{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,1]],"date-time":"2026-05-01T14:41:04Z","timestamp":1777646464200,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":22,"publisher":"SAGE Publications","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2014,8,4]],"date-time":"2014-08-04T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1407110400000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/page\/policies\/text-and-data-mining-license"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["journals.sagepub.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Games and Culture"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2014,11]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>At first blush, the romance might seem antithetical to gaming. The masculine hegemony of the video game industry creates specific genre expectations about video games. Just as \u201cextending play\u201d is about opening itself to new kinds of ways that people play, it also encompasses extending to new audiences. At the same time, there is always a risk of ghettoizing new audiences\u2014reinforcing stereotypes that keep gamers marginalized. This essay analyzes one such extension: the complex relationship between the romance novel and the video game. Modleski illustrates how romance in books, television, and film are often dismissed as frivolous, but also demonstrate how audiences use romantic texts for a wide variety of purposes. Although universal, romance is an experience that can be understood as both general and specific as well as generic and subjective. The video game romance, while not a perfected genre, often struggles with these larger questions about identity and subjectivity. This article explores the tension between subjectivity and interactivity, as it relates to romance and gaming, specifically in the hidden object gaming genre. Analysis focuses on three romance-themed game texts: Harlequin: Hidden Object of Desire, Ravenhearst, and Love and Death: Bitten. With each of these games, I examine the different modes of interactive romance and demonstrate how subjectivity functions within the gameplay, complicating traditional notions of identity and subjectivity within the romance. Additionally, I illustrate how the games ignore the potential of player agency in favor of formulaic structures and subjectivities.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1177\/1555412014544904","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2014,8,4]],"date-time":"2014-08-04T21:48:52Z","timestamp":1407188932000},"page":"417-428","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/sage-journals-update-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":4,"title":["Strange Bedfellows"],"prefix":"10.1177","volume":"9","author":[{"given":"Shira","family":"Chess","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"The University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"179","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2014,8,4]]},"reference":[{"key":"bibr1-1555412014544904","first-page":"1971","volume-title":"Cultural Theory and Popular Culture","author":"Althusser L.","year":"2006","edition":"3"},{"key":"bibr2-1555412014544904","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.7551\/mitpress\/3125.003.0005"},{"key":"bibr3-1555412014544904","unstructured":"Casti T. (2014). Women play video games. Can we cut the sexist crap now? Huffington Post. Retrieved May 5, 2014, from http:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.com\/2014\/04\/24\/female-gamers_n_5207137.html?utm_hp_ref=email_share"},{"key":"bibr4-1555412014544904","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/15295036.2010.515234"},{"key":"bibr5-1555412014544904","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/14680777.2011.558350"},{"key":"bibr6-1555412014544904","first-page":"177","volume-title":"Beyond Barbie and Mortal Kombat","author":"Consalvo M.","year":"2009"},{"key":"bibr7-1555412014544904","first-page":"129","volume":"12","author":"Ganguly K.","year":"1991","journal-title":"Communications"},{"key":"bibr8-1555412014544904","first-page":"171","volume":"3","author":"Harvey A.","year":"2011","journal-title":"International Journal of Gender, Science and Technology"},{"key":"bibr9-1555412014544904","unstructured":"Harlequin Presents: Hidden Object of Desire\u2014Royal House of Karedes\n                      [Download]. (2009). Seattle, WA: Big Fish Games."},{"key":"bibr10-1555412014544904","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/s10583-013-9212-9"},{"key":"bibr11-1555412014544904","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/1046878109353473"},{"key":"bibr12-1555412014544904","volume-title":"Game over: Book 1 of the romance video game series","author":"Kelley C. A.","year":"2011"},{"key":"bibr13-1555412014544904","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1002\/9781118324905.ch26"},{"key":"bibr14-1555412014544904","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.chb.2012.09.002"},{"key":"bibr15-1555412014544904","unstructured":"Love and Death: Bitten\n                      [Download]. (2010). San Francisco, CA: PlayFirst Studios."},{"key":"bibr16-1555412014544904","volume-title":"Loving with a vengeance: Mass-produced fantasies for women","author":"Modleski T.","year":"1982"},{"key":"bibr17-1555412014544904","unstructured":"Mystery Case Files: Ravenhearst\n                      [Download]. (2007). Seattle, WA: Big Fish Games."},{"key":"bibr18-1555412014544904","volume-title":"Reading the romance: Women, patriarchy, and popular literature","author":"Radway J.","year":"1984"},{"key":"bibr19-1555412014544904","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.9783\/9780812203103"},{"key":"bibr20-1555412014544904","first-page":"307","volume-title":"Women and romance: A reader","author":"Snitow A.","year":"2001"},{"key":"bibr21-1555412014544904","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/978-1-4471-0277-9_3"},{"key":"bibr22-1555412014544904","first-page":"3","volume-title":"Immersive Gameplay: Essays on Participatory Media and Role-Playing","author":"Torner E.","year":"2012"}],"container-title":["Games and Culture"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/pdf\/10.1177\/1555412014544904","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/full-xml\/10.1177\/1555412014544904","content-type":"application\/xml","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/pdf\/10.1177\/1555412014544904","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,29]],"date-time":"2026-04-29T06:35:21Z","timestamp":1777444521000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/10.1177\/1555412014544904"}},"subtitle":["Subjectivity, Romance, and Hidden Object Video Games"],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2014,8,4]]},"references-count":22,"journal-issue":{"issue":"6","published-print":{"date-parts":[[2014,11]]}},"alternative-id":["10.1177\/1555412014544904"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/1555412014544904","relation":{},"ISSN":["1555-4120","1555-4139"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1555-4120","type":"print"},{"value":"1555-4139","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2014,8,4]]}}}