Jaroslav Švelch's book Player vs. Monster will be available in other languages

The book Player vs. Monster: The Making and Breaking of Video Game Monstrosity by Jaroslav Švelch from the Department of Media Studies will be translated into Italian, traditional Chinese for Taiwanese readers and simplified Chinese alphabet for mainland China. So far it has been published in English, Czech and Spanish. In total, it will be available in six languages.

The book, which was originally published by The MIT Press in the US in 2023, explores the evolution of monsters in video games over the past fifty years - from the dragons in the first board games and the pixelated aliens of Space Invaders to the terrifying mutants of The Last of Us and the surreal monsters of Bloodborne. Shvelch analyses the design of these creatures and its inspiration in mythology, art, pop culture and tabletop RPGs.

He also shows how video games relate to Cold War ideas of clearly defined and defeatable enemies. It looks at why these simplistic monsters are appealing to players, but also explores the ways in which video games might offer a more complex and nuanced view of "monstrosity."

For more information about the book, we recommend the interview with Jaroslav Švelch published by UK Forum magazine on the occasion of the book's release.