Playing against the plot: Meta-ethical gameplay disruption and joyful learning in grand theft auto iv

This paper presents and discusses the findings and results of a series of tests carried out by the author in the Danish educational system among pupils and teachers using the game Grand Theft Auto IV (GTA IV) as a case study for investigating the problematic but also fruitful relation between gameplay and fiction, known as ludo-narrative dissonance. In analysing this dissonance, the paper further discusses the transcendental nature of play (Gadamer), the fact that play seems to play itself, and the delicate way in which the game insists on a meta-ethical theme while at the same time setting up utterly violent game rules and mechanics. As it turns out, this skirmish of fiction versus gameplay is exactly the gravitational point zero of ‘ethics’ in the stigmatized game of GTA IV and thus a locus for joyful learning.