[Commlist] New book: Zen and Slow Games

Victor Navarro Remesal want to announce that MIT Press recently 
published the new book, Zen and Slow Games, as part of their Playful 
Thinking series. The book is available in paperback and eBook and the 
digital version os open access. If you find it interesting and have any 
questions, don't hesitate to contact Victor Navarro Remesal.

Navarro-Remesal, Víctor. /Zen and Slow Games/. The MIT Press, 2026.
https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262553568/zen-and-slow-games/ 
<https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262553568/zen-and-slow-games/>
Open access link: https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/15423.001.0001 
<https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/15423.001.0001>

A deep dive into the reflective modes of playfulness in video games.

Slowness and reflectiveness have always been part of the video game 
medium, though they have been used very differently throughout its 
history. In /Zen and Slow Games/, Víctor Navarro-Remesal challenges the 
dominant discourse of action and quick reflexes in video games to offer 
an analysis of reflectiveness as a style in games, tracing its evolution 
from its origins to the present time. Two labels are of particular 
importance: the Zen modes (and later, Zen games) of the 2000s, 
especially during the Casual Revolution, and the slow games or slow 
gaming movement, which started in the 2010s and is ongoing today. The 
term “reflective games” is offered as an umbrella to bring together 
these and other labels to raise awareness and discussion of slow gaming.

*Table of contents*
Introduction: Slow and Steady
1. What Is Slow? On the Reflective Style in Games
2. Early Reflective Games
3. Zen Modes and Zen Games
4. Slow Games
Outro: Too Many Labels and One Ideal

    This book brilliantly explores reflective games, a style that
    resists capitalism’s rush by creating spaces of peace, presence, and
    self-discovery. It weaves form, meaning, and everyday tactics into
    an inspiring vision of play. ~Susana Tosca, author of /Sameness and
    Repetition in Contemporary Media Culture/ and /Understanding
    Videogames/
    A carefully crafted, profound critique of meditation and slowness in
    digital games, /Zen and Slow Games/ takes us on a journey to the
    boundaries of the medium, detaching playfulness from the pressures
    of winning and performing otherwise dominant in games and
    contemporary societies. ~Martin Roth, author of /Unboxing Japanese
    Videogames/ and /Thought-Provoking Play/
    In this age of neoliberal life coaching, time management, and
    endless self-optimization, many of us yearn for slower, more mindful
    lives. How these aspirations reflect in what and how we play is the
    focal theme of this timely, accessible, and nimble new book.
    ~Stefano Gualeni, author of /Fictional Games/ and /Il Videogioco del
    Mondo/

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