The Functions of Role- Playing Games: How Participants Create Community, Solve Problems and Explore Identity, de Sarah Lynne Bowman (2010) [Reseña de libro]

Author ORCID Identifier

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0930-0179

Authors

• Cristo Leon, New Jersey Institute of TechnologyFollow

Country

United States of America

Abstract

The Functions of Role-Playing Games: How Participants Create Community, Solve Problems and Explore Identity, by Sarah Lynne Bowman, is an ambitious, wide-ranging, and still necessary work for role-playing game studies. Published in 2010, the book proposes that role-playing and roleplaying games fulfill three main social and psychological functions: creating community, facilitating problem solving, and enabling the exploration of identity. Bowman develops this thesis through a combination of theoretical review, cultural reflection, and participant-observer ethnography, based on interviews with players of tabletop role-playing games, live-action roleplaying games, and virtual environments. Organized into seven chapters, the book moves clearly from the historical evolution and cultural permutations of role-playing to identity alteration and character typology. Although the book presents methodological and theoretical limitations, especially in its generalization from particular gaming contexts and its limited attention to rule systems, its contribution remains relevant. For the Latin American research community, this work offers a useful framework for thinking about community, performance, scenarios, learning, identity, and research design through role-playing games.

Recommended Citation

Leon, Cristo (2026) "The Functions of Role- Playing Games: How Participants Create Community, Solve Problems and Explore Identity, de Sarah Lynne Bowman (2010) [Reseña de libro]," Journal of Roleplaying Studies and STEAM: Vol. 5: Iss. 1, Article 9.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.njit.edu/jrpssteam/vol5/iss1/9