Terribly Bored Lizards: Speculating with the Captive Animalin Jurassic World: Evolution (2019)

The representation of the animal 'in itself' rather than Othered poses problems for game design (Janski, 2016; Chang, 2019) and media more broadly (Derrida, 2008;Agamben, 2003), a problematic that the growing field of Green/Eco Game Studies urges us to reckon with (Tyler, 2022; Op de Beke et al., Forthcoming).I propose, however, that constrained 'playgrounds' can provide indirect means of affective and speculative relation to the nonhuman which might overcome barriers posed by difference (Haraway 2008;Hayward 2012;Seller 2020).This extended abstract explores this in the context of 'captivity' as a mechanic and aesthetic in games and the affective space this creates for animal and player.