New Books Network Victor Navarro-Remesal, "Zen and Slow Games" (MIT Press, 2026)
Mar 3, 2026
Víctor Navarro-Remesal, a Barcelona-based media scholar specializing in game history and reflective play, discusses the rise of slowness in video games. He traces Zen modes from the 2000s and the slow gaming movement of the 2010s. Short takes cover how reflectiveness functions as a stylistic thread, design techniques that invite contemplation, and cultural tensions around attention and well-being.
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Reflective Games As A Distinct Play Style
- Reflective games form a distinct style that arranges meaning via slowed time, reduced gameplay pressure, and amplified elements of meditation.
- Víctor Navarro-Remesal traced this style from early text adventures to Zen modes and the later slow gaming movement, showing continuity.
Author's Decade Tracking From Zen Modes To Slow Gaming
- Navarro-Remesal describes discovering the label 'Zen mode' around 2013 in casual games and then watching 'slow gaming' emerge in 2015–16.
- His decade-long tracking shifted his focus from Zen ethics to writing a broader history of slowness in games.
Why Reflectiveness Beats Relaxation As The Core
- 'Reflectiveness' captures a core that unites varied slow practices: attention type, temporal techniques, reduced pressure, and meditation-like reflection.
- Navarro-Remesal chose style as the analytic unit to compare Zen modes, slow gaming, and earlier slow practices.
