books
I have written or edited a number of books about videogame culture, criticism, and design. I've also worked on books with educational goals. You can also browse my other journalistic and academic writing that doesn't appear in book form.
Racing the Beam
The Atari Video Computer System
An accessible book about the Atari VCS as a platform. Co-authored with Nick Montfort.
Persuasive Games
The Expressive Power of Videogames
A book about how videogames make arguments: rhetoric, computing, politics, advertising, learning.
Unit Operations
An Approach to Videogame Criticism
A book about comparative videogame criticism: games, philosophy, literature, and art.
Elementary Greek
Koine for Beginniners. By Christine Gatchell. Audio companions read by Ian Bogost.
When I was in school, I learned Greek, and I think everyone else should too.
Platform Studies
A book series from the MIT Press, Ian Bogost and Nick Montfort, series editors
Ludologica Retro
Vintage Arcade Games, 1971-1984 (edited with Matteo Bittanti)
This interdisciplinary critical anthology explores the aesthetic, cultural, and social significance of seminal vintage arcade games.