Video games as critical ludofictional worlds: the case of the Spanish political crisis in mobile digital entertainment (2008-2015)

Abstract

The objective of this research is to analyze the critical-discursive capacity of the contemporary persuasive videogame. We have analyzed the ten most popular mobile titles whose central theme is the crisis in Spain from 2008 to 2015, using a methodology based on the theory of possible worlds and procedural rhetoric. The results show how parody is used as the main playful catalyst in the treatment of facts denounced at a social level which are, in turn, the elements that make up the mechanics and dynamics of the game experience.