In keeping with the overall topic of this semester, we will take a look at the darker side of gaming. Games have often been suspected of fostering obsessive, unhealthy or outright dangerous behaviour, from the 1980s Satanic Panic, when role-playing was seen as a devil-worshipping by religious fundamentalists, up to current discussions about violence in video games. On the other hand, there are games that do indeed reward behaviour that goes against social norms, such as lying, duplicity and treachery. In the seminar, we will look at examples of such games: Social deduction games that demand manipulating other players, strategy games that can't be won without double-crossing opponents and role-playing games that cast the players into the role of psychopaths. We will analyse the mechanics of such games, investigate how they shape the players' agency, look at the play communities they engender and examine the ethical and cultural implications of such games.

Written essay.