Seminar: 3.02.990 S Walking Simulators and the Video Game Industry - Details

Seminar: 3.02.990 S Walking Simulators and the Video Game Industry - Details

General information

Course name Seminar: 3.02.990 S Walking Simulators and the Video Game Industry
Subtitle
Course number 3.02.990
Semester SoSe2026
Current number of participants 22
maximum number of participants 13
Home institute Institute of English and American Studies
Courses type Seminar in category Teaching
First date Wednesday, 08.04.26, 12:00 - 14:00 o'clock A10 1-121a
Type/Form
Lehrsprache englisch

Rooms and times

A10 1-121a

  • Wednesday, 12:00 - 14:00, Weekly (from 08.04.26)

Module assignments

Comment/Description

This seminar will introduce students to the genre of so-called walking simulators—story-driven exploration video games where walking around constitutes the primary gameplay mechanic—and the scholarly and public discussions surrounding it. Students will choose two to three primary texts from a list of walking simulators and are asked to play and engage critically with those games. The course will begin with a short introduction to the genre of walking simulators and an overview of how to analyze video games using the tools of transmedial narratology. While our first three sessions are dedicated to acquiring the vocabulary and analytical skills necessary for a scholarly discussion of video games more broadly and walking simulators in particular, the following sessions are loosely organized around recurring tropes and themes in those types of games. During those sessions, we will talk about selected secondary texts and reflect on how they could be made productive for an analysis of the students’ selected primary texts. Ultimately, students will leave this course with a deeper insight into the genre of walking simulators and their affordances, the debates they inspire in both public and academic spaces, and the ability to develop research questions that can be made productive for an analysis of those types of video games.

Admission settings

The course is part of admission "ang971/2/3 981/2/3 991/2/3 MM LitKult".
The following rules apply for the admission:
  • A defined number of seats will be assigned to these courses.
    The seats in the affected courses have been assigned at 20.03.2026 on 08:00. Additional seats may be available via a waiting list.
  • At least one of these conditions must be fulfilled for enrolment:
    • Field of study is Englisch
    • Field of study is Deutsch als Fremdsprache/Deutsch als Zweitsprache
    • Field of study is English Studies
    • Field of study is Anglistik
    • Degree is Anpassungslehrgang
    • Field of study is Gender Studies
  • Enrolment is allowed for up to 1 courses of the admission set.
  • The enrolment is possible from 16.03.2026, 06:00 to 31.05.2026, 23:59.
Assignment of courses: