SKOOL DAZE A Plea for Dissentience

Abstract

The historic sandbox computer game Skool Daze, released by Microsphere for ZX Spectrumin 1984, is analyzed in the context of its importance for the game development industry,with conceptual parallels extended into the domains of natural science and arts.The ability to accomplish the game only by displaying rebelliousness in an inherentlycruel academic system is connected with a similar principle applying to innovation in scienceand art. Both science and art are exercises in imagination that require mischievousplayfulness, a point that is intrinsic to Skool Daze. The article also makes the case forthis game as a potential source of inspiration for the creation of conceptual art or sciencewhen viewed in a historical context. A sense of nostalgia about the early days of computergames pervades the paper, which ends on a confessional but high-spirited note.

Keywords

• skool daze
• abandonware
• academia
• animation
• cognition
• creativity
• eduucation
• indie
• metamessage
• nostalgia
• paradise lost
• retro