Ivan Davidov

I studied game studies and philosophy on the graduate level in Austria, currently still affiliated to the University of Vienna. My research interests focus on play and game studies in general, play therapy, cognitive theory of play, joint action in games, eSports, aesthetics of digital games and digital kitsch.

Universität Wien


The Gambler’s and Explorer’s Shared Mental State

Panel talk, FROG main conference | Saturday, 14th October, 09:00 – 09:30

There is a sharp divide between game and gambling studies. The wager component justifies this separation, although the mediality and content of a gambling game do not preclude negotiable consequences. A player experience based ontology can incorporate betting games into the field of game studies. The gap disappears if shown that the experience of wagering overlaps with an established player type. Gaming players’ mental states resemble the experiences of exploring ones. This hypothesis will be instantiated by a comparison between exploration in Minecraft and 4X games with slot machines and roulette, respectively.

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