Analog Game Studies

This essay seeks to examine how tactics wrought in contingency can offer a novel approach to understanding indeterminacy as a resource, rather than a burden. It uses the show Taskmaster to identify exaggerated examples of these instances that are explicitly contended with during the show to better understand how contingency can be leveraged. From there, this paper applies the mechanisms through which contingency is leveraged and identifies analogs where mental health clinicians utilize these tactics in their treatment of clients. Clinical data was collected in completion of a master’s degree disquisition through ethnographic interviews with 15 clinicians that utilize table-top role-playing games in their practices.