Academic Work

I am Clara Fernández-Vara, and I am Associate Arts Professor at the NYU Game Center, which is part of the Tisch School or the Arts. Before that, I worked at MIT for six years,  as a Researcher later Postdoctoral Researcher at the Singapore-MIT GAMBIT Game Lab, and later as Visiting Scholar at the Trope Tank and five  both laboratories within Comparative Media Studies.

My main research interest are narrative in games and strategies to integrate story and gameplay. My background is in literature, theatre and film allows me to apply methods from textual analysis and performance studies to the study of video games and cross-media artifacts. My goal is to bridge disciplines – humanities and sciences, theory and practice – in order to find ways to innovate and open new ground in video games studies and design.

Here is a series of links to my work available online. You can also see further publications in my Google Scholar Profile. You can also follow my work on ORCID, Academia.edu or Researchgate.

Books

• Introduction to Game Analysis. London / New York:  Routledge (2014).
• Introduction to Game Analysis – Second Edition. London / New York: Routledge (2019).

Dissertation

• The Tribulations of Adventure Games: Integrating Story Into Simulation Through Performance. Georgia Institute of Technology (2009)

Edited Journal Issues

• Fernández Vara, Clara and Ira Fay, editors. A Special Issue on Escape Rooms. Well Played Journal, Vol. 10, no. 1. April 2021
• Fernández Vara, Clara and Bennett Foddy, editors. European Videogames of the 1980s (Special Issue). Well Played Journal, Vol. 6, no. 2. June 2017.
• Pinkard, Jane and Clara Fernández Vara, editors. Diversity in Games (Special Issue). Well Played Journal, Vol. 3, no. 3. November 2015.

Conference Papers 

• Fernández Vara, Clara, “Detective Stories in Digital Games: The Case of the Vanishing Exegesis.” Electronic Literature Organization 2014: Hold The Light. Milwaukee, 19^th-21^st June 2014.
• Fernández Vara, Clara, “Creating Dream-like Game Worlds Through Procedural Content Generation” Interactive Narrative Technologies 7. Milwaukee, 17 ^th-18^th June 2014.

• Fernández Vara, Clara, “The Game’s Afoot: Designing Sherlock Holmes.”  DeFragging Game Studies: Digital Games Research Association Conference. 26^th -29^th August, 2013.
• Manero Iglesias, Borja; Fernández Vara, Clara; Fernández Manjón, Baltasar. “Stanislavky’s System as a Game Design Method: A Case Study.” DeFragging Game Studies: Digital Games Research Association Conference. Atlanta, 26^th -29^th August, 2013.
• Fernández Vara, Clara; Thomson, Alec, “Procedural Generation of Narrative Puzzles in Adventure Games: The Puzzle-Dice System” Foundations of Digital Games: Procedural Generation Workshop. Raleigh, 29^th May – 1^st June,2012.
• Fernández Vara, Clara, “Electronic Literature for All: Performance in Exhibits and Public Readings” Electronic Literature Organization 2012: Electrifying Literature: Affordances and Constraints. Morgantown, 20^th-23^rd June 2012.
• Fernández Vara, Clara, “Game Spaces Speak Volumes: Indexical Storytelling.” Think Design Play: Digital Games Research Association Conference. Utrecht, 14^th -17^th September, 2011.
• Fernández Vara, Clara, “From ‘Open Mailbox’ to Context Mechanics: Shifting Levels of Abstraction in Adventure Games.” Foundations of Digital Games. Bordeaux, 28^th June -1^st  July, 2011.
• Fernández Vara, Clara, “The Paradox Between Player Control and Player Character in Adventure Games.” International Communication Association (ICA) Conference. Boston, 26^th – 30^th  May, 2011.
• Fernández Vara, Clara and Osterweil, Scot, “The Key to Adventure Game Design: Insight and Sense-making.” Meaningful Play: Designing and Studying Games that Matter. Michigan State University, East Lansing, 20^th – 23^rd October, 2010.
• Fernández Vara, Clara, “Innovation Methods in Story-Driven Games: Genre Variation” Design Research Society Conference: Design and Complexity, Montreal, Canada, 7^th – 9^th July 2010.
• Fernández Vara, Clara, “Play’s the Thing: A Framework to Study Videogames as Performance.” Breaking New Ground: Innovation in Games, Play, Practice and Theory: International Digital Games Research Association  (DiGRA) Conference, Brunel University, West London, 1^st – 4^th September 2009.
• Fernández Vara, Clara; Tan, Philip, “The Game Studies Practicum: Applying Situated Learning to Teach Professional Practices.” ACM Future Play: The International Academic Conference on the Future of Game Design and Technology, Toronto, Canada, 3^rd – 5^th November 2008.
• Fernández Vara, Clara; Zagal, José; Mateas, Michael. “Evolution of Spatial Configurations In Videogames.” Changing Views: International Digital Games Research Association Conference, Vancouver, Canada, 16^th-20^th June 2005.

Journal Publications

• Fernández Vara, Clara. “Postmodern Detective Fiction in Videogames.” L’Atalante. Revista de estudios cinematográficos, 31, January 2021. (Versión en español.)
• Fernández Vara, Clara. “El mundo de ficción como clave en el proceso de adaptación: El caso de Blade Runner, el videojuego.” Revista Anàlisi, 54, June 2016.
• Fernández Vara, Clara. “La problemática representación de la mujer en los videojuegos y su relación con la industria.” Revista de Estudios de Juventud. Septiembre 2014, no. 106.
• Manero Iglesias, Borja; Fernández-Vara, Clara; Fernandez-Manjón, Baltasar. “E-Learning Takes the Stage: From La Dama Boba to a Serious Game.” Tecnologías Del Aprendizaje, IEEE Revista Iberoamericana de, Vol 8, No. 4, 2013 197–204.
• Manero, Borja; Fernández Vara, Clara; Fernández Manjón, Baltasar. “E-learning a Escena: De La Dama Boba a Juego Serio.” Revista IEEE VAEP-RITA. Vol. 1, No. 1, 2013. pp. 51-58.
• Fernández Vara, Clara. “Los juegos de aventuras gráficas y conversacionales como base para el aprendizaje.” Revista de Estudios de Juventud, No. 98, 2012. pp. 101-117.
• Fernández Vara, Clara. “Dracula Defanged: Empowering the Player in Castlevania: Symphony of the Night.” Loading… Vol. 4, No. 6, 2010.
• Zagal, José; Mateas, Michael; Fernández Vara, Clara. “Rounds, Levels and Waves: The Early Evolution of Gameplay Segmentation.” Games and Culture. Vol. 3, No. 2, 2008. pp. 175-198.
• Fernández Vara, Clara. “Shaping Player Experience in Adventure Games: History of the Adventure Game” Extending Experiences: Structure, Analysis and Design of Computer Game Player Experience. Eds. Olli Leino, Hanna Wirman and Amyris Fernandez, Lapland University Press, Rovaniemi 2008. pp. 210-227.

Book Chapters

• Fernández Vara, Clara. “Los Viejos Piratas Nunca Mueren” Deus Ex Machina: Cuaderno de Máquinas y juegos. Guillermo G.M., ed. Madrid: Sello Arsgames (2016).
• Fernández Vara, Clara. “The Inescapable Intertextuality of Blade Runner the Videogame.” Contemporary Research on Intertextuality in Videogames. Eds. Duret, Christophe and Pons, Christian-Marie. Hershey, PA: IGI Global (2016).
• Fernández Vara, Clara. “Adventure Games.” The Routledge Companion to Video Game Studies. Eds. Wolf, Mark P. and Perron, Bernard. London / New York: Routledge. (2014).
• Fernández Vara, Clara. “The Secret of Monkey Island: Playing Between Cultures.” Well Played: Video Games, Value and Meaning. Ed. Davidson, Drew. Pittsburgh, PA: ETC Press, 2009.
• Fernández Vara, Clara; Grisby, Neal; Glinert, Eitan; Tan, Philip; Jenkins, Henry. “Between Theory and Practice: The GAMBIT Experience.” Eds. Perron, Bernard, and Wolf, Mark J. P. The Video Game Theory Reader 2. Routledge, 2008.
• Fernández Vara, Clara. “Labyrinth and Maze: Video Game Navigation Challenges.” Space Time Play – Computer Games, Architecture and Urbanism: The Next Level. Eds. von Borries, Friedrich; Walz, Steffen P.; Bottger, Matthias. Basel: Birkhäuser Verlag, 2007.
• Fernández Vara, Clara. “Review: Worms.”  Space Time Play – Computer Games, Architecture and Urbanism: The Next Level. Eds. von Borries, Friedrich; Walz, Steffen P.; Bottger, Matthias. Basel: Birkhäuser Verlag, 2007.
• Fernández Vara, Clara, Zagal, José; and Mateas, Michael. “Evolution Of Space Configuration In Videogames.”Worlds in Play: International Perspectives on Digital Games Research. Eds. de Castell, Suzanne and Jenson, Jennifer. Peter Lang, Vancouver, Canada, 2007.
• Zagal, José; Michael, Mateas; Fernández Vara, Clara; Hochhalter, Brian; Lichti, Nolan. “Towards an Ontological Language for Game Analysis.” Worlds in Play: International Perspectives on Digital Games Research. Eds. de Castell, Suzanne and Jenson, Jennifer. Peter Lang, Vancouver, Canada, 2007.

Other Publications

• Fernandez-Vara, Clara. 3rd February, 2020“Why ‘Loom’ Remains the Hidden Gem of Lucasfilm Adventures.”
  VICE Games. 
• Fernández-Vara, Clara.”Learning to Love the Narrative Puzzle.” Game Design Aspect of the Month, June 2015. (Also featured blog post in Gamasutra.)
• Fernández-Vara, Clara, and Nick Montfort. “Videogame Editions for Play and Study.” Technical Report for The Trope Tank, 2014.
• Fernández Vara, Clara.“ Creating Dream-like Game Worlds Through Procedural Content Generation.” Technical Report WS-14-12 for the Interactive Narrative Technologies 7. Jichen Zhu, Ian Horswill, Noah Wardrip-Fruin, eds. October 2014.
• Fernández Vara, Clara. 2010. “Adventures in Games Research.” Adventure Classic Gaming
• Fernández Vara, Clara. 2010. “SCUMM: The Joys of Exploration” Game Design Aspect of the Month Design Blog. Part I – Part II.
• Fernández Vara, Clara. 2009. “Interview with Doris C. Rusch.” Transformative Works and Cultures, no. 2.