Resonant Play: Exploring C. Thi Nguyen’s Aesthetics of Agency and Hartmut Rosa’s Theory of Resonance

This paper proposes an interdisciplinary investigation into the connections between C. Thi Nguyen’s aesthetics of agency in gaming and Hartmut Rosa’s resonance theory. While Nguyen explores how games structure and sculpt agency, offering unique aesthetic experiences through engagement with designed constraints, Rosa’s work on resonance provides a framework for understanding how individuals relate meaningfully to the world. By bringing these theories into dialogue, this paper argues that games can serve as privileged sites for the cultivation of resonant relationships, and that this has broader implications for religious ethics.