Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at https://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=rcsm20 Critical Studies in Media Communication ISSN: 1529-5036 (Print) 1479-5809 (Online) Journal homepage: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rcsm20 The cruel optimism of casual games: neocolonialism, neoliberalism, and the valorization of play Robert Mejia & Ergin Bulut To cite this article: Robert Mejia & Ergin Bulut (2019): The cruel optimism of casual games: neocolonialism, neoliberalism, and the valorization of play, Critical Studies in Media Communication, DOI: 10.1080/15295036.2019.1566626 To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/15295036.2019.1566626 Published online: 22 Jan 2019. Submit your article to this journal Article views: 75 View Crossmark data