Say it with a Computer Game: Hobby Computer Culture and the Non-entertainment Uses of Homebrew Games in the 1980s Czechoslovakia

Abstract

Based on historical research into computer games in the 1980s Czechoslovakia, this article traces the uses of the medium in the context of an amateur community. It argues that the entertainment function of local homebrew games was often overshadowed by their potential as a means of communication among the community of users.

Keywords

• history of games
• Czechoslovakia
• Eastern Europe
• homebrew games
• hobby computing
• communication
• pragmatics
• persuasive games