This introductory chapter offers a review of the existing literature in the field and identifies the contribution of this volume. This chapter introduces the bases for the relationship between games and comedy, sketches out a brief interdisciplinary history, and engages with the debates springing up around this foundational relationship.
It explores the carnivalesque lineage as it is manifested in games, and moves towards a consideration of the comedic possibilities that video games open up as a specific medium. This chapter also offers an overview and breakdown of the book's content.