<div dir="ltr"><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12pt;line-height:107%;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Call for Abstracts
/ Chapter Proposals</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12pt;line-height:107%;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Edited Volume on
Roguelites</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12pt;line-height:107%;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;margin:0cm 0cm 8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12pt;line-height:107%;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">I’m trying to put together an edited volume of essays on
rogue-lite video games – like ‘<i>Hades</i>’, ‘<i>Slay the Spire</i>’, ‘<i>Dead
Cells</i>’, ‘<i>Binding of Isaac</i>’, ‘<i>Spelunky</i>’, ‘<i>FTL</i>’ and so
on. There have been some excellent books about the nature and history of
roguelikes that have appeared recently and I think it would be great to have a
collection of essays which discusses roguelites, exploring the continued
influence roguelike games have on video game culture from a variety of
perspectives. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;margin:0cm 0cm 8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12pt;line-height:107%;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;margin:0cm 0cm 8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12pt;line-height:107%;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">I spoke to a publisher that is interested in the general
idea of the project but requested more specific information about the content
of the individual chapters and the book’s structure before they can evaluate
the proposal properly. So, if you have something interesting to say about roguelites
that could be a chapter in the book, I want to hear it. I invite you all to
send a title and abstract (300-500 words) on any topic pertaining to roguelite
video games to the following email address:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;margin:0cm 0cm 8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12pt;line-height:107%;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12pt;line-height:107%;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><a href="mailto:roguelitebook@gmail.com" style="color:rgb(5,99,193)">roguelitebook@gmail.com</a></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12pt;line-height:107%;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;margin:0cm 0cm 8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12pt;line-height:107%;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Feel free to distribute this to anyone that might be
interested. You can find a tentative description of the book below, for
inspiration. I look forward to hearing your ideas!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12pt;line-height:107%;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Thanks and all the
best,</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12pt;line-height:107%;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">James Cartlidge</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12pt;line-height:107%;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12pt;line-height:107%;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">‘The Rise of the
Roguelite: How Roguelikes are Influencing Contemporary Video Game Culture’</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;margin:0cm 0cm 8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12pt;line-height:107%;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">“The ‘roguelike’ genre of video games is arguably one
of the most interesting, but its status as one of the most influential is
beyond doubt: its gameplay mechanics and innovations in design have indelibly
impacted video game culture up to the present day. This is evidenced profoundly
by the recent creative boom of ‘roguelite’ titles, which creatively appropriate
and subvert various roguelike features and blend them with other genres. This
has resulted in some of the best, most critically acclaimed, and noteworthy
games of the past decade, from the multi-award-winning ‘<i>Hades</i>’, the
influential ‘<i>Slay the Spire</i>’, the popular ‘<i>Dead Cells</i>’ and many
others. Roguelites represent the most recent chapter in the storied history of
one of gaming’s most important genres and are introducing swathes of gamers to
roguelike ideas using 21<sup>st</sup> century ideas and technology.
Understanding the rise of the roguelite is crucial to understanding current
trends in gaming, but despite admirable texts on roguelikes appearing, the
research usually does not discuss the most recent developments of the movement,
often stopping at 2008’s ‘<i>Spelunky</i>’, 2011’s ‘<i>Binding of Isaac</i>’<i>
</i>or 2012’s ‘<i>FTL: Faster Than Light</i>’ – often not discussing them in
much detail either. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;margin:0cm 0cm 8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12pt;line-height:107%;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The proposed interdisciplinary volume would contribute
to filling this gap, complementing the already existing research by commenting
on the developments of the past decade. Its essays would discuss the historical
development and significance of roguelites, issues of genre and categorization,
critical perspectives, the influence of roguelikes on roguelites, the
differences between the two, and how roguelites make use of and subvert
roguelike mechanics. Essays on history, design and case studies of significant
roguelite titles would probably take up much of the book, but essays on
narrative, psychological elements and philosophical themes of roguelites (or
even how to play them) would certainly be welcomed for consideration. Roguelikes
have a complicated and controversial history, but in the recent burst of
roguelite titles, we can see how they continue to tangibly influence
contemporary video games. The proposed volume will analyze this important wave
of games and put them in historical context, informing readers about their
development out of and relation to the roguelike genre that inspired them.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12pt;line-height:107%;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"> </span></p></div>