Posts on studying code, video game studies, digital tinkering, moss and other cute things, suburban homesteading, and my personal thoughts.

Ludus—Ludeme   Last month, I mapped a working definition of game (ludus) and ludeme (conceptual units of a game         and play) in preparation for an upcoming article on ludemes and         programming video games. I went through many of the better known         attempts for a definition and asked myself where my own         perspective differs and what my approach needs to express.

Ludus—Ludeme

In the past few months I have been engaging in the exegesis of source code from the 1980ies and -90ies. Serendipity towards the end of last year brought me in closer contact with the concept of ludemes, in which I found a fitting perspective on these magic moments of translation. David M. Berry outlines this processes through the computational image, Hartmut Rosa approaches it through his theories on resonance, Karen Barad talks about inter- and intra-actions, and Luhman also has an opinion on the topic. Either way, ludemes have been utterly fruitful in reading source code against a techno-deterministic grain, and as a lens into programming practices of the past.

Historical Code         Hermeneutics   In the past few months I have been engaging in the exegesis         of source code from the 1980ies and -90ies. Serendipity towards         the end of last year brought me in closer contact with the         concept of ludemes, in which I         found a fitting perspective on these magic moments         of translation.

Historical Code Hermeneutics

I tried to learn assembly, but didn’t find the energy. But I had a inspired times anyways.

Adrian Demleitner

December Adventure,         but different   I really, really wanted to do concentrate on my stuff this         month. But December thought otherwise. Nonetheless, it turned         out to be a pretty decent month. An acquaintance on Mastodon         called out for December Adventure         and the basic premise is to code every day a little on a chosen         project.

December Adventure, but different

This summer I got the feeling, that I’m getting used to do researcherly things as a job

Everyday Life and         Research   This summer something unexpected occurred. I experience         working during summer always as very pleasant. Fewer working         hours, going to the lake after hours, no meetings or urgent         mails to respond to. It’s usually a time were I can set         realistic goals and have a nice rhythm going after my things.

Everyday Life and Research

Roasting my CPU   I run calculations for image embeddings for the complete         “Observing the Coming of Age of Video Game Graphics” dataset         over the last weekend, on a dedicated little computer in the DH         Lab in Bern. The process went smoothly and way quicker than         anticipated. Having the complete dataset now with embeddings meant also         having to re-do the dimension reduction and clustering.

More embeddings and roasting my CPU

Thinking through Metadata

 This is a text that I started in March 2024 and wanted to publish on the Ludens Blog, but I don’t find the time and motivation to push it through.

Thinking through Metadata

Five month later, more or         less   I’m trying to collect some thoughts on the state of my         project, in preparation for a Ludens PhD colloquium.

Five month later, more or less

Frustration,         Conferences and Ludemes   I had some things on the plate and obviously, I got stressed. And, as always, it somehow turned out quite ok. There were two         conference presentations, and a self-imposed paper deadline to         deal with, next to keeping several (too many) side projects         running.

Frustration, Conferences and Ludemes

I was chewing on the concept of ludemes lately and needed to map it out, conceptionally. Especially from the perspective of code and programming, there are terms that overlap and differ.

Embodying         Player Phenomenologies in Code. Also, Ludemes and Routines. I was chewing on the concept of ludemes lately and needed to         map it out, conceptionally. Especially from the perspective of         code and programming, there are terms that overlap and         differ. Ludemes are minimal units         of gameplay. Which means that ludemes interact with rules and         mechanics.

Embodying Player Phenomenologies in Code. Also, Ludemes and Routines.

Inspired by the silly inquiries of Any Austin and the concept of relational playworld by Melos Han-Tani I figured I’m going to spend some more time in Alba, after I finished it for the second time.

Playing Alba the Relational Way Inspired by the silly inquiries of Any Austin

 1

and the concept of

 relational playworld


 2

by Melos Han-Tani I figured I’m going to spend some more time in Alba, after I finished it for the second time. I just love hanging around on that cosy island. I mean, look at that view!

Playing Alba the Relational Way

In which I’m reflecting on critical code studies, distant reading source code and my recent workshop at the DHd 2025.

Critical Code Studies         from Afar   As “some” people have commented (thanks LK), I have missed my         once-a-month mark of updating my journal by quite some time.         Reason being that I was occupied by a conference, that went on         the entire last week. I applied with a one-day workshop on         computational methods to study source code. I collected a few         important takeaways from the workshop, and one personal one.

Critical Code Studies from Afar

I was increasingly unhappy with mypublishing strategy (or the lack thereof), but also increasingly worriedabout the state of the internet, especially the aggressive scrapping ofcontent by AI bots. So, I reconsidered my approach.

Reconsidering         Publishing to the Internet   A few weeks ago, I took all of my published pages offline and         just left my blog intact (although without styling). I was         increasingly unhappy with my “publishing strategy” (or the lack         thereof), but also increasingly at unease about the state of the         internet, especially the aggressive scrapping of content by AI         bots.

Reconsidering Publishing to the Internet

I finished readingy “The philosophy of software” last week and went half through “Homebrew Gaming and the Beginnings of Vernacular Digitality” this week. The two books, on with a philosophical approach and one with a focus on everyday programming practices, are a great match and sparked some fruitful insights.

What is the Video Game         Image? I finished readingy “The philosophy of software” last week         and went half through “Homebrew Gaming and the Beginnings of         Vernacular Digitality” this week. The two books, on with a         philosophical approach and one with a focus on everyday         programming practices, are a great match and sparked some         fruitful insights.

What is the video game image?

I’ve been left with quite some material to think through after the Leisure Electronics conference. My current reading, The Philosophy of Software, is expanding on that. Which leads me to an attempt of capturing the current state of that reflection.

Thinking about Images and Software I’ve been left with quite some material to think through after the Leisure Electronics conference (see When did tinkering become programming?). My current reading,

 The Philosophy of Software

is expanding on that. Which leads me to an attempt of capturing the current state of that reflection.

Thinking about Images and Software

A few quick notes on thinking theory through metaphors.

Metaphors and Theory   I’m reading Gaming the Iron Curtain and I wish I could write         like Jaroslav Švelch once. Such clarity! I was especially taken         by his use of metaphors and key terms to narrate his research         but also hook into quite a diverse range of theories.

Metaphors and Theory

I’m a Mediocre Minigolf         Player   I’ve been on two minigolf courses in the last two weeks, and         both time I played ok-ish. The two courses are Miniature Golf         Florida Studen and Minigolf La         Pommeraie in Delémont. Fun stuff but also really weird. I         talked with a friend on it and we figured that minigolf is like         a mildly bad and dissociative drug trip.

I’m a Mediocre Minigolf Player

ReAnimate,         Montréal, Multidisciplinarity, and Method   I had the wonderful and privileged chance to attend a summer         school organized by Concordia University, Université de         Montréal, and École de Technologie Supérieure.

ReAnimate, Montréal, Multidisciplinarity, and Method

A few notes on the moment of translation between epistemologies and ontologies in software.

Axes of Translation   Once more thinking about how to outline what I’m interested         in. Digital games are software, and I’m interested in the         translation of electric signals into light particles and of         intention intio semiosis. The thing is also getting utterly         messy and I believe that the concept of Assemblage is a fruitful         approach of capturing video games.

Axes of Translation

Writing this first paper felt grindy. But I enjoyed working on something for that long of a time. I also learned a lot, again.

Grinding that paper   I finished my first article that is officially part of my         dissertation. I’m delighted that I don’t have to write a whole         book (yet). That one article really stretched my patience. The         writing part took me around three months and one more for         editing. But, I started working on the dataset early this year         and invested far too much time in that activity.

Grinding that paper

I have finally found the time to produce two (extremely dense) abstracts for the next paper (on Source Code and Ludemes).

Scraps and Scrapping Scraps I have finally found the time to produce two (extremely dense) abstracts for the next paper (on

 Source Code and Ludemes

). Variant A is more committed to the socio-cultural context and moves from there towards studying source code and ludemes.

Scraps and Scrapping

Some thoughts on watching genre movies and observing visual clusters.

NIFFF,         Let’s Plays and Cluster Visualizations   A while ago I merged my dissertation wiki with my general         website and as a result of that, sometimes journal entries might         mix up stuff. This is one of those. As our annual pivoting into         summer tradition, I visited the Neuchâtel International         Fantastic Film Festival (NIFFF)         with my spouse.

NIFFF, Let’s Plays and Cluster Visualizations

Next to intensively preparing for a conference talk, I had the chance to attend a preservation-session with people from the Swiss Video Game Archivists association.

Preserving         5.25” floppies and audio cassettes   Next to intensively preparing for a conference talk, I had         the chance to attend a preservation-session with people from the         Swiss Video Game Archivists         association.

Preserving 5.25 inch floppies and audio cassettes

The title is a direct quote from Pierre-Yves Hurrel, one of the organizers of the Leisure electronics Conference in Lausanne conference, which I attended this week. It is also one of my key takeaways from the conference, as well as my own presentation, Programming and Becoming. The conference concentrated on “the emergence of video games: Towards a genealogy of ludic practices and computing artifacts”, that pivotal moment when video game culture started to establish itself.

When did         tinkering become programming? The title is a direct quote from Pierre-Yves Hurrel, one of         the organizers of the Leisure         electronics Conference in Lausanne conference, which I         attended this week.

Jachère Journal

Thinking about Images and Software

When did tinkering become programming?

Preserving 5.25 inch floppies and audio cassettes