Review: Art as Experience
Game Changer explores non-roleplaying books that have had an impact on me as a designer, gamemaster, and player.
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If you’ve ever run a game that felt more like a performance than a rules-driven exercise, you already understand what John Dewey was getting at in Art as Experience. He argued that art isn’t about static objects sitting in museums. It’s about the way we interact with and experience the world. That makes this one of the most useful books for anyone thinking about roleplaying as something more than dice and mechanics.
Core Ideas & Takeaways
Dewey’s central idea is that art isn’t a thing, it’s an experience. A painting on a wall doesn’t mean anything until someone looks at it and feels something. A song isn’t music until someone hears it. A game session isn’t a story until players engage with it. The magic happens in the moment, shaped by participation and interaction.
That’s why some campaigns stick with us for years, while others fade the second they’re over. It’s not about perfectly crafted plots or airtight mechanics. It’s about the experience players have at the table, whether they feel tension, excitement, investment, or surprise. Dewey’s work explains why those emotional beats matter and how they turn play into something meaningful.
How It Applies to Roleplaying
Gamemasters don’t just tell stories. They create conditions for players to have an experience. The best sessions aren’t the ones where every detail is preplanned. They’re the ones where something unexpected happens, where players feel a real sense of agency, and where the game world reacts in ways that make them care.
For designers, Art as Experience is a reminder that mechanics should serve engagement, not control it. The best systems don’t just facilitate outcomes. They shape how players experience the game. Think about rules that encourage improvisation, collaboration, or emergent storytelling. Those are the ones that lead to memorable play.
TLDR
This isn’t a quick or easy read, but it’s one of the most important books for anyone who wants to think deeply about what makes roleplaying meaningful. Dewey doesn’t tell you how to run a game, but he offers a way to think about games as something bigger than a set of rules. If you’ve ever wanted to understand why some sessions feel transformative and others fall flat, this book is worth your time.
Dewey, J. (1934). Art as Experience. Perigee Books.
