Gamified Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Play: The Jurassic Park Ludo Mix

Abstract

Over 30 years, the Jurassic Park franchise has spawned myriad games across several mediums, including: video game consoles; arcade cabinets; PC games; standalone handheld games; a tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG); board games; game-versions of LEGO toys; an alternate reality game; games using bar codes. By treating this games portfolio as a ludo mix, a theoretical frame that allows for connecting these disparate game forms to one another and to the larger franchise, it becomes clear that the Jurassic Park franchise historically positions dinosaurs as adversaries, hazards, and commodities to be exploited within their games, and in the process, requires players to be complicit.

Keywords

• dinosaurs
• rpg
• video games
• games studies
• ludo mix