The Child in Videogames
Palgrave Macmillan 2023
My new book is available to purchase here.
Videogames are key arenas in which definitions of childhood are being created and contested. While child-players of videogames are lightning rods for academic research, child-characters in videogames are mostly ignored. This book expands the spotlight of scholarly attention beyond the child-in-front-of- the-screen to encompass the child-on-the-screen. Using tools from Children’s Literature Studies, this book catalogues and critiques how children are depicted across a large corpus of contemporary videogames. This book’s aim is to redirect conversations away from questions of whether videogames are ‘good’ or ‘bad’ for child-players and towards questions of how coded kids in virtual worlds produce childhood as a set of rules, behaviours, and symbols.
Praise for
'The Child in Videogames'
"The Child in Videogames is remarkable. Its ground-breaking approach to scholarship on videogames and, more broadly, textual representations of children stands to transform how both are studied. Its brilliant analysis of the childly and childness across videogames designed for both younger and mature players will shape thinking—both academic and industry, I believe— for years to come.”
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—Professor Gretchen Papazian, Central Michigan University, USA
“Reay has effortlessly pulled together a large-scale survey, sophisticated textual analyses, and novel auto-ethnographic approaches to both expose and address a critical blind spot of both game studies and children’s literature studies. Equal parts insightful, provocative, and humorous, The Child in Videogames is a masterclass of how to conduct interdisciplinary work, and a true intervention in debates around games and representation. This is a book that will be of great value to anyone interested in taking the critical and cultural implications of videogames seriously.”
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—Dr. Brendan Keogh, Queensland University
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“Reay’s definitive and delightful book bursts with creative approaches for understanding and reframing classic concepts in game studies—agency, morality, heroism, nostalgia—by focusing on the way videogames construct “the child.” Through her analysis of hundreds of games, she identifies 7 archetypical tropes, which the subsequent chapters illuminate with wide- ranging reference to relevant interdisciplinary theory. A brilliant and thought- provoking book.”
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—Dr. Melissa Kagen, Worcestor Polytechnic Institute
ABOUT ME
I am a researcher, educator, consultant, and writer. My work draws across games studies, game design, childhood studies, and literature studies, and I believe strongly in an open dialogue between industry, academia, and players. I advocate for lifelong play, intergenerational solidarity, cooperative play, accessible design, and joy as form of resistance.
I'm a Clinical Trustee on the board of Safe in Our World, a charity that connects gaming and mental wellbeing. I'm a collaborator for The Good Death project, which explores how digital games might enrich conversations about death, dying, and bereavement. I'm an advisor to Taralumen Games, a development studio creating an open world adventure game to support young people with anxiety. I'm a board member of REIYL (Researchers Exploring Inclusive Youth Literature), an evolving collective that connects networks of scholars, librarians, creators, and young people who are interested in inclusion, equity, and justice.
PUBLICATIONS
If you can't access any of my work because it is behind a paywall, please don't hesitate to reach out to me and I will gladly share a copy with you.
​BOOKS
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The Child in Videogames (2024) Palgrave Macmillan
BOOK CHAPTERS
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‘Skins in the Game: Fashion Brands and Videogames’ (2022) chapter in edited anthology Reinventing Fashion Retailing, Springer
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‘Immateriality and Immortality: Digital Toys in Games’, (2022) chapter in edited anthology Playful Materialities, Bielefeld
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‘The Silent Child in Little Nightmares and INSIDE’ (2021) chapter in edited anthology Silence and Silencing in Children’s Literature, Makadam
ARTICLES
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'Treating Symptoms or Treating Causes?' Therapeutic Videogames for Mental Health, ACM: Games
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'Changing the Narrative: Why Representation in Video Games Matters', (2023) Geena Davis Institute Report
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'Typologies and Features of Play in Mobile Games for Mental Wellbeing', (2023) Simulation and Gaming
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'The Kid-in-the-Fridge: Sacrificial Children and Vengeful Masculinities in Contemporary Videogames' (2023), Journal of Games Criticism
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'Grief in Mobile Games' (2023), DiGRA Conference Proceedings
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'Videogames as an Unheroic Medium: The Child Hero's Journey' (2022), Games and Culture
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'Cute, Cuddly, and Completely Crushable: Plushies as Avatars in Videogames' (2022), Journal of Games and Virtual Worlds
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'The Child in Games: Representations of Children in Contemporary Videogames', Game Studies
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'Empathy Puzzles: Solving Intergenerational Conflict in Young Adult Videogames', International Journal of Young Adult Literature
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'Secrets, Stealth, and Survival: The Silent Child in Videogames', Barnboken
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'Hands Up! Close Reading of the Book and Interview with Author Breanna J. McDaniel', BookBird
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'Kideogames: Reimagining the Fringe of Literary Studies as the Forefront', Games and Culture
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'Appraising the Poetic Power of Children's Videogames', International Research in Children's Literature
EXPERIENCE
2022 - Present
Senior Lecturer in Emerging Media
University of Southampton
Winchester Campus, UK.
2020 - Present
Game Design Consultant
Ninja Theory, TableFlip Games, Treehouse Digital, Industrial Re:Evolution, Unquiet Skull, Sustainable Futures Academy
2021 - 2022
Research Fellow
Falmouth University
Cornwall, UK.
2020 - 2021
Lecturer in Digital Media Studies
Anglia Ruskin University
Cambridge, UK.
EDUCATION
2018 - 2021 PhD in Games Studies
University of Cambridge
Thesis available here.
2016 - 2017 MA in Children's Literature Studies
University of Cambridge
Appraising the Poetic Power of Children's Videogames (Distinction)
2009 - 2012 BA Hons in English Literature
University of Oxford
PODCASTS, BLOGS, VIDEOS
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Podcast for ATTUNE on designing therapeutic videogames
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Video presentation for the Ethical Games conference
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Articles in The Conversation on Baldur's Gate 3, The Game of the Year Awards, and Depictions of Children in Games
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Podcast with New Books Network on The Child in Videogames
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Podcast with MultiPlay Network on academic conferences and digital childhoods
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Podcast with Safe in Our World on Grief in Games
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Podcast with Serially Hooked on The Last of Us: TV Series
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Podcast with SuperGamer Podcast on The Children's Revolution
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Podcast with Serially Hooked on Representation in Games
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Blog Series for A Good Death on Dying and Gaming
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Video presentation for Let's Talk About Sex in YA conference about Bisexuality in Games
