Can videogames be poems? That is the question being asked at an event hosted by Winchester School of Art (WSA) as part of the Winchester Poetry Festival on Sunday 5 October.
Visitors are invited to try out various 'game poems' at an event led by game designer and media artist Jordan Magnuson .
Game poems reimagine video games as poetry - short, subjective, symbolic works that invite the player to reflect on the human condition and social issues.
"A game poem is like a tiny videogame that doesn't try to entertain you with points or competition, but instead captures a feeling, a moment, or a thought-like a poem does with words, but here it's done with play," says Jordan Magnuson who lectures in Games and Media Art at WSA.
Jordan has been creating these kinds of games for 15 years, has written a book about them , and is part of a burgeoning community of game poets. It ranges from developers at major game studios using game poems as a creative outlet to amateur poets looking for new ways of conveying their thoughts and feelings.
Some of Jordan's games include Loneliness , where you play a block searching in vain to connect with others, Grandmother , where you walk through a serene cemetery to care for the grave of a loved one, and Walking with Magnus , inspired by Jordan's long walks with his baby son, trying to get him to sleep.
While these games include little to no text, relying instead on metaphor, other game poems combine words with play, such as Haiku Garden or Good Morning Radio recounting the creator's memories of a morning shift at a student radio station.
"Game poems subvert our expectations and push at the boundaries of what both a game and a poem should be," says Jordan. "They are unique in that they allow you to experience and interact with poetry through choices, pauses and movement."
People may think that creating a game poem requires years of learning to code, but Jordan is keen to stress how accessible it is.
He says: "Making a game poem is less about coding skills and more about having something to say. It's easy to get started. You can create one with freely available, easy to use online tools and share it with the world. You don't have to be an expert game developer to create a great game poem."
The game poems drop-in session takes place between 10am and 4pm on Sunday 5 October and tickets are available for free online .
Winchester Poetry Festival takes place from 2 to 12 October.
