Analogue Play as Aesthetic Encounter

Revisting the Aura Experience in the Gamebook Migong Series

Abstract

This paper examines the Migong gamebook series (Forbidden City Publishing House, 2019-2022) as a case study to explore how analogue games generate aura experience in the post-digital age. Building on three analytical frameworks: representation, ritualization, and reciprocity, the study demonstrates how aura emerges through the interplay of material reproduction, embodied practice, and the projection of player identity. Migong represents historical artifacts and sites to create a “here and now” atmosphere; it ritualizes play through performative reenactment and use-value reenactment; and it fosters reciprocity by establishing a responsive relation between players, objects, and cultural sites. Together, these mechanisms show that aura is not confined to originality or authenticity but continually arises from processes of interaction and embodied engagement. By situating analogue games as dynamic fields of cultural experience, this paper argues that they offer a vital aesthetic of encounter, allowing aura to be concretized and reanimated as a quotidian practice.