{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,1]],"date-time":"2026-05-01T14:32:19Z","timestamp":1777645939649,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":69,"publisher":"SAGE Publications","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,6,23]],"date-time":"2021-06-23T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1624406400000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["journals.sagepub.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Games and Culture"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2022,3]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>This article provides a general overview of the theoretical foundations of formalism to assess their usefulness for the study of videogames and thereby establish grounds for a more robust approach. After determining that formalism has been used as a go-to term for a variety of ontological and methodological approaches in game studies, this article draws more specifically from Russian Formalism to use the label for a functionalist approach interested in how formal devices in videogames work to cue aesthetic responses. Through an exploration of three pillars of Russian Formalism, a videogame formalism emerges that focuses on the workings of the game as a machine while still taking the aesthetic player response as the methodological starting point and acknowledging the importance of synchronic and diachronic historical perspectives in establishing the functioning of game devices.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1177\/15554120211027475","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,6,23]],"date-time":"2021-06-23T17:47:26Z","timestamp":1624470446000},"page":"284-305","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/sage-journals-update-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["What is Videogame Formalism? Exploring the Pillars of Russian Formalism for the Study of Videogames"],"prefix":"10.1177","volume":"17","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1384-5112","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jasper V.","family":"Vught","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Humanities, Department of Media and Culture, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands"}]}],"member":"179","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,6,23]]},"reference":[{"key":"bibr1-15554120211027475","volume-title":"Bioshock 2","author":"2K Marin","year":"2010"},{"key":"bibr2-15554120211027475","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.56021\/9780801855788"},{"key":"bibr3-15554120211027475","first-page":"45","volume-title":"First person. New media as story, performance, and game","author":"Aarseth E.","year":"2004"},{"key":"bibr4-15554120211027475","first-page":"130","volume-title":"Proceedings - DiGRA 2007: Situated play","author":"Aarseth E.","year":"2007"},{"key":"bibr5-15554120211027475","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.5749\/j.ctt20mvgwg"},{"key":"bibr6-15554120211027475","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.16997\/wpcc.145"},{"key":"bibr7-15554120211027475","volume-title":"Thirty flights of loving","author":"Blendo Games","year":"2012"},{"key":"bibr8-15554120211027475","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.7551\/mitpress\/6997.001.0001"},{"key":"bibr9-15554120211027475","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.7551\/mitpress\/5334.001.0001"},{"key":"bibr10-15554120211027475","unstructured":"Bogost I. (2015). Game studies, year fifteen. Notes on thoughts on formalism. Retrieved from http:\/\/bogost.com\/writing\/blog\/game-studies-year-fifteen\/."},{"key":"bibr11-15554120211027475","volume-title":"Narration in the fiction film","author":"Bordwell D.","year":"1985"},{"key":"bibr12-15554120211027475","first-page":"369","volume-title":"The cinematic text: Methods and approaches","author":"Bordwell D.","year":"1989"},{"key":"bibr13-15554120211027475","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.4159\/9780674028531"},{"key":"bibr14-15554120211027475","volume-title":"Film art. An introduction","author":"Bordwell D.","year":"2019","edition":"12"},{"issue":"1","key":"bibr15-15554120211027475","first-page":"67","volume":"1","author":"Bradford C.","year":"2009","journal-title":"Digital Culture & Education"},{"key":"bibr16-15554120211027475","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/1555412019853372"},{"key":"bibr17-15554120211027475","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.7551\/mitpress\/12109.001.0001"},{"key":"bibr18-15554120211027475","first-page":"404","volume-title":"Level up. Digital games research conference","author":"Copier M.","year":"2003"},{"key":"bibr19-15554120211027475","volume-title":"Literary theory: A very short introduction","author":"Culler J.","year":"1997"},{"key":"bibr20-15554120211027475","volume-title":"The internet encyclopedia of philosophy","author":"Dowling C.","year":"2013"},{"key":"bibr21-15554120211027475","volume-title":"Understanding video games: The essential introduction","author":"Egenfeldt-Nielsen S.","year":"2008"},{"key":"bibr22-15554120211027475","first-page":"78","volume-title":"Russian Formalist criticism: Four essays","author":"Eichenbaum B.","year":"2012","edition":"2"},{"key":"bibr23-15554120211027475","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1515\/9783110873375"},{"issue":"1","key":"bibr24-15554120211027475","volume":"1","author":"Eskelinen M.","year":"2001","journal-title":"Game studies"},{"key":"bibr25-15554120211027475","volume-title":"The Stanley Parable","author":"Galactic Cafe","year":"2013"},{"key":"bibr26-15554120211027475","volume-title":"Tom Brown\u2019s schooldays","author":"Hughes T.","year":"1857"},{"key":"bibr27-15554120211027475","volume-title":"Ferris Bueller\u2019s day off [motion picture]","author":"Hughes J.","year":"1986"},{"key":"bibr28-15554120211027475","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.56021\/9780801821011"},{"key":"bibr29-15554120211027475","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/978-3-319-54451-9"},{"key":"bibr30-15554120211027475","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/1555412019845593"},{"key":"bibr31-15554120211027475","first-page":"30","volume-title":"Level up. Digital games research conference","author":"Juul J.","year":"2003"},{"key":"bibr32-15554120211027475","first-page":"131","volume-title":"First person. New media as story, performance, and game","author":"Juul J.","year":"2004"},{"key":"bibr33-15554120211027475","volume-title":"Half-Real: Video games between real rules and fictional worlds","author":"Juul J.","year":"2005"},{"key":"bibr34-15554120211027475","volume-title":"A brief history of anti-formalism in video games","author":"Juul J.","year":"2015"},{"key":"bibr35-15554120211027475","unstructured":"Keogh B. (2015). Some quick thoughts on videogame form off the top of my head [Blog Post]. Retrieved from https:\/\/ungaming.tumblr.com\/post\/107969280935\/some-quick-thoughts-on-videogame-form-off-the-top."},{"key":"bibr36-15554120211027475","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.7551\/mitpress\/10963.001.0001"},{"key":"bibr37-15554120211027475","volume-title":"ScreenPlay: Cinema\/cideogames\/interfaces","author":"King G.","year":"2002"},{"key":"bibr38-15554120211027475","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.4135\/9781446211397.n7"},{"key":"bibr39-15554120211027475","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.5040\/9780755695546"},{"key":"bibr40-15554120211027475","first-page":"23","volume-title":"Game research methods. An overview","author":"Lankoski P.","year":"2015"},{"key":"bibr41-15554120211027475","unstructured":"Lantz F. (2015a). More thoughts on formalism [Blog Post]. Retrieved from https:\/\/www.gamasutra.com\/blogs\/FrankLantz\/20150120\/234524\/More_Thoughts_on_Formalism.php."},{"key":"bibr42-15554120211027475","unstructured":"Lantz F. (2015b). Parley [Blog Post]. Retrieved from http:\/\/gamedesignadvance.com\/?p=2794."},{"key":"bibr43-15554120211027475","first-page":"203","volume-title":"Proceedings of computer games and digital cultures conference","author":"Lindley C. A.","year":"2002"},{"key":"bibr44-15554120211027475","volume-title":"100 greatest video game franchises","author":"Mejia R.","year":"2017"},{"key":"bibr45-15554120211027475","unstructured":"Midway Games (1992).\n                      Mortal Kombat\n                      . [Arcade]. Midway Games."},{"key":"bibr46-15554120211027475","volume-title":"Proceedings of 1st international joint conference of DiGRA and FDG","author":"Mitchell A.","year":"2016"},{"issue":"2","key":"bibr47-15554120211027475","volume":"20","author":"Mitchell A.","year":"2020","journal-title":"Game studies"},{"key":"bibr48-15554120211027475","volume-title":"Proceedings of DiGRA, 2017","author":"Mitchell A.","year":"2017"},{"key":"bibr49-15554120211027475","volume-title":"Hamlet on the Holodeck. The future of narrative in cyberspace","author":"Murray J. H.","year":"1997"},{"key":"bibr50-15554120211027475","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3998\/dcbooks.7933339.0001.001"},{"issue":"2","key":"bibr51-15554120211027475","volume":"17","author":"P\u00f6tzsch H.","year":"2017","journal-title":"Game Studies"},{"key":"bibr52-15554120211027475","volume-title":"Bully","author":"Rockstar Vancouver","year":"2006"},{"key":"bibr53-15554120211027475","volume-title":"Passage","author":"Rohrer J.","year":"2007"},{"key":"bibr54-15554120211027475","first-page":"20","volume-title":"Russian Formalist criticism: Four essays","author":"Shklovsky V.","year":"2012","edition":"2"},{"key":"bibr55-15554120211027475","volume-title":"Russian FormalismA metapoetics","author":"Steiner P.","year":"2014"},{"key":"bibr56-15554120211027475","volume-title":"The graveyard","author":"Tale of Tales","year":"2008"},{"key":"bibr57-15554120211027475","unstructured":"Tanen N., Hughes J. (1985). The breakfast club. [Motion Picture]. United States: Universal Pictures."},{"key":"bibr58-15554120211027475","first-page":"55","volume-title":"Russian Formalist criticism: Four essays","author":"Thomashevsky B.","year":"2012","edition":"2"},{"key":"bibr59-15554120211027475","volume-title":"Eisenstein\u2019s \u201civan the terrible\u201d: A neoformalist analysis","author":"Thompson K.","year":"1981"},{"key":"bibr60-15554120211027475","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1515\/9780691213156"},{"key":"bibr61-15554120211027475","volume-title":"Investigating procedural expression and interpretation in videogames","author":"Treanor M.","year":"2013"},{"key":"bibr62-15554120211027475","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1145\/2159365.2159381"},{"issue":"2","key":"bibr63-15554120211027475","first-page":"205","volume":"4","author":"Van Vught J.","year":"2018","journal-title":"Transactions of the digital games research association journal"},{"key":"bibr64-15554120211027475","volume-title":"The ludic subject and the ludic self: Analying the \u2018I-in-the-Gameworld","author":"Vella D.","year":"2015"},{"key":"bibr65-15554120211027475","volume-title":"On the cultural inaccessibility of gaming: Invading, creating, and reclaiming the cultural clubhouse","author":"Vossen E.","year":"2018"},{"key":"bibr66-15554120211027475","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.17645\/mac.v6i2.1321"},{"issue":"3","key":"bibr67-15554120211027475","first-page":"468","volume":"54","author":"Wimsatt W. K.","year":"1946","journal-title":"The Sewanee review"},{"issue":"1","key":"bibr68-15554120211027475","first-page":"31","volume":"57","author":"Wimsatt W. K.","year":"1949","journal-title":"The Sewanee review"},{"key":"bibr69-15554120211027475","volume-title":"The medium of the video game","author":"Wolf M. J. P.","year":"2001"}],"container-title":["Games and Culture"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/pdf\/10.1177\/15554120211027475","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/full-xml\/10.1177\/15554120211027475","content-type":"application\/xml","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/pdf\/10.1177\/15554120211027475","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,29]],"date-time":"2026-04-29T06:33:51Z","timestamp":1777444431000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/10.1177\/15554120211027475"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2021,6,23]]},"references-count":69,"journal-issue":{"issue":"2","published-print":{"date-parts":[[2022,3]]}},"alternative-id":["10.1177\/15554120211027475"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/15554120211027475","relation":{},"ISSN":["1555-4120","1555-4139"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1555-4120","type":"print"},{"value":"1555-4139","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2021,6,23]]}}}