Abstract
H ow do players find out what they need to know in order to succeed at the tasks set before them, like defeating a friend in a game of Starcraft II (Blizzard Entertainment, 2010) or recruiting competent guild members? How is gameplay behavior and player experience impacted by player interaction with online discussion boards, wikis, in-game chat channels, and gaming friends? In this chapter, our aim is to show how methods and modes of interpretation associated with the notion of information can facilitate game research and help answer inquiries like the ones above—and many others. As this chapter shows, several information processes are required for functional, enjoyable gameplay, and they are therefore of interest also to researchers who do not typically analyze information phenomena. Before we proceed to discuss the tools and perspectives implicated in the information-centric study of games, there are however two questions that need to be discussed: what is information, and why is it interesting to consider in relation to game research?
