Leaping Monsters and Realms of Play: Game Play Mechanics in Old Monster Yarns Sugoroku

Abstract

Taking Utagawa Yoshikazu's woodblock printed game board Monster Yarns as my case study, I will analyze how existing imagery and game play work together to create an interesting and engaging game. I will analyze the visual aspect of this work in great detail, discussing how the work is created from complex and disparate parts. I will then present a mechanical analysis of game play and player interaction with the print to fully address how this work functions as a game. While some elements of game play are problematic, I propose that the highly visual nature of Monster Yarns counteracts these issues to create an enjoyable game.