Dr. Jordan Magnuson

Assistant Professor

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Biography

Jordan Magnuson focuses on creating experimental video games and interactive media art, leveraging his deep roots in the independent gaming community. He began his career in 1999 by founding an indie games company and established the Independent Gaming Source in 2005, which became a pivotal community site for indie game developers and a birthplace for innovative titles like Fez, Spelunky, Papers Please, and Minecraft. His work, including serious games, art games, and 'notgames', has been recognized in notable publications such as Wired and PC Gamer, and has garnered nominations for various awards including the New Media Writing Prize and the IndieCade Grand Jury Award. Magnuson's interests lie in the fundamental elements of interaction, computation, and representation in video games, particularly how they can address complex subjects, emotional experiences, and subjective narratives. He has also lectured on experimental game design at prestigious institutions across the United States and has collaborated on interdisciplinary research, including a game-based psychology study with Purdue University. Recently, he published a book titled 'Game Poems: Videogame Design Lyric Practice', which explores the intersection of game design and lyric poetry.

Research Interests