Honors Program
Date of this Version
Winter 1-30-2020
Document Type
Thesis
Citation
Haskett, Paige. The Game of Suburbia. Undergraduate Honors Thesis. University of Nebraska-Lincoln. January 2020.
Abstract
This project serves as a comparison between games and suburbia in their creation of simulation. Since their existence, games mimic the society in which they exist, translating real-life actions and principles into a set of rules to be played. In effect, games are simulations of reality disguised as a leisurely pastime. Similarly mid-century ideas of suburbia transformed as image began to supersede reality. And in order to be truly suburban, one must play their role in the imitation of the original American Dream; they must live in a suburban simulation. In consequence, the distinction between Suburbia the Reality and Suburbia the Game becomes blurred. In this project, the replication of suburban ideals into the rules and components of a board game reveals fluidity between them. As players participate within this simulation, the fabricated game does not look much different than the fabricated world of suburbia, prompting the question: What is Suburbia but a game?
Comments
Copyright Paige Haskett 2020.