Analog Game Studies

What does it mean to adapt, repurpose, or reimagine an existing game?  Where is the line between thoughtful and respectful modification and problematic appropriation and consumption?  Why do games seem culturally or politically neutral even when they carry deep histories of race, migration, commodification, and power?  In this case, what do we do about mahjong, a game which became popular in the United States after being brought from Shanghai and Beijing in the 1920s. In the wake of debates about the appropriation of mahjong by white American game companies, game studies scholars Tara Fickle and Edmond Y. Chang discuss how mahjong functions as a site of diasporic identity formation, intergenerational connection, and gendered sociality. We explore mahjong’s history as well as the communities, affects, and power relations that “gather around” it.