Episode description

The architect Sandra Youkhana takes readers on a tour of the structures of modern digital worlds in Videogame Atlas (co-authored with Luke Caspar Pearson). From Minecraft to Assassin’s Creed Unity she examines the real-world architectural theory that underpins these fantasy worlds, and their influence on concrete designs today.

The journalist Louise Blain presents BBC Radio 3’s monthly Sound of Gaming which showcases the latest and best gaming soundtracks. She explores how composers help create not only the atmosphere in a game, immersing players in these invented worlds, but their music is also integral to the game’s structure and design.

Adrian Hon spent a decade co-creating the hit game Zombies, Run but has become increasingly disillusioned with the way real world institutions – corporations, governments and schools – are using gamification to monitor and control behaviour. In You’ve Been Played he shows how the elements of game playing have been co-opted as tools for profit and coercion.

Producer: Katy Hickman

Image Credit: Map of the game 'Katamari Damacy' by Sandra Youkhana and Luke Caspar Pearson from 'Videogame Atlas: Mapping Interactive Worlds'