Game Poems of Jordan Magnuson featured four “game poems” created by independent game maker Jordan Magnuson. Game poems, as Magnuson described in his book of the same title, were small videogames that shared certain characteristics with lyric poetry—though they did not necessarily focus on words. These were videogames that did not require twitch reactions, had few clear rules or objectives, rarely lasted more than five minutes, and seldom included elements aligned with traditional notions of “fun.” Rather, they were games about slowing down and paying attention, being present in the moment, sitting with a particular emotion, encountering oneself, or encountering the other. For their impact, they relied not on fun gameplay or flashy graphics, but on simple representations, symbolism, metaphor, and rhythm.

Like lyric poems, game poems often explored subjective interior experiences in contrast to the common tendency of videogames to privilege outer-world relationships and meaning. The games in this exhibition differed in style and focus, but each pushed back against videogames’ historical infatuation with literalism and hyperrealism, suggesting a vision of “the real” that had little to do with the pursuit of superior graphics or high-fidelity physics.

For those wishing to learn more about game poems, Magnuson’s book, Game Poems: Videogame Design as Lyric Practice, is available in print and open-access formats at GamePoemsBook.com.