Creator/player interplay and fan-created paratexts: A critical survey of creativity and its allowances in fan expansions of analog games

Abstract

Fan studies as a field has rarely engaged with analog game players as fans, yet these communities clearly engage with game texts and participate in game-driven activities in ways that can be described as fannish. A clear example can be found in the creation of noncommercial, amateur expansions of analog games. We offer a survey of creator/fan interplay related to both board games and tabletop role-playing games (TTRPGs) and draw from this exploration to theorize a spectrum of creator/fan interplay, with intervals ranging from Simple Awareness to Inspirational Framework.