ABSTRACT. This article discusses how scholarship on moral decision making can inspire and inform the creation of ethically notable games. Following the method of artistic research, we describe the design of the installation game I Don’t Know Who I Am. The paper showcases that the creation of a thought experiment space, in combination with metaphoric embodied interaction, can encourage players to engage in critical reflection on a ‘messy’ problem such as the human-technology relationship. In addition, the application of an artistic research method indicates that the format of the installation game, and in particular the ‘bleed’ of the game space into everyday life, can provide a powerful tool for connecting an ambiguous narrative to the players’ lived experiences.

ABSTRACT. Reflecting on the conference theme of ‘crossroads’, I’m hoping to present my ongoing research and development of the game “Man Versus,” with a special focus on the intersections of materiality, collaboration, adaptation, and sculpture in game design practices. The process of making the game revealed a persistent tension between the nature of a one-of-kind, non-reproduced artwork vs. the affordable, distributable multiple that we are trying to produce. In this way, my presentation at DiGRA will broadly appeal to game makers, critics, and scholars thinking about the interplay of game production, aesthetic materiality, and authenticity.

ABSTRACT. Extended abstract uploaded in the paper section

ABSTRACT. This EA presents the results of a semi-structured interview study with 20 videogame industry professionals which explored how monetisation shapes games development and funding processes, and general attitudes toward game monetisation models.

The findings of this study position economic sustainability as a key factor driving game monetisation decisions. This advances our understanding of monetisation approaches beyond ethical frameworks, situating these approaches within a broader context of industry conditions and norms.

ABSTRACT. This study investigated how goal framing influences player behavior and subjective experience in response to game design elements, as measured by player engagement, enjoyment, and performance. Despite the growing prevalence of gamified systems in work and tasks, limited research exists on how framing effects operate specifically in digital environments. Participants (n = 100) received either positively or negatively framed feedback while playing a video game. Engagement was measured via emotional arousal using galvanic skin response (GSR) sensors, while self-report scales captured enjoyment. Results indicated that participants in the positive feedback condition experienced higher emotional arousal, suggesting greater engagement. However, no significant differences were observed in enjoyment or performance. These findings highlight the importance of framing feedback in gamified digital environments, such as workplace productivity tools, where engagement is critical. Understanding these effects contributes to optimizing digital experiences for both user well-being and the successful application of gamification in work contexts.

ABSTRACT. As social beings, humans pursue happiness by craving to foment and maintain fulfilling social relations, a need that transcends from personal into professional life and that leveraged the study of psychological factors that can influence teamwork processes and outcomes. Following this tendency, the present work studies how the pairing of people with distinct interaction preferences influences their acquired ability and experience while training together. For this, a puzzle video game named Alien Bar was deployed and used to evaluate 31 pairs of players (n=62). The results demonstrated teamwork benefits of including self-oriented and challenge-oriented subjects, and that care should be raised when joining others-oriented characters. Additionally, interpersonal closeness influenced subjects' experience at the perceived competence level, but not their enjoyment which may instead relate to task affinity. These findings may help develop instructor-driven and automatic group management, otherwise dependent on possibly inaccurate subjects' judgements alone.

ABSTRACT. This study examines the evolution of gender representation and inclusivity of the Baldur's Gate series, comparing Baldur’s Gate (1998), Baldur’s Gate 2: Shadows of Amn (2000), and Baldur’s Gate 3 (2023). The early games (BG and BG2) adopted a binary/traditional gender system with minimal character parameterization, following the technological limitations and societal norms of the late 1990s and early 2000s. The pronouns and the wording are strictly binary, and the female characters are often Hyper-sexualized, reinforcing traditional stereotypes while offering limited representation of diverse identities. In contrast, Baldur’s Gate 3 marks a significant shift in mentality. The game allows the players to parameterize their characters, including non-binary pronouns, and gender-neutral expressions, with the freedom to design characters that go beyond the traditional gender roles. Female characters are portrayed with greater depth and diversity, moving away from hypersexualized depictions, although there are cases in which hyper sexualization exists, these are not prominent. This inclusivity extends to dialogue and interactions, fostering a more personalized and affirming player experience. This change follows an evolution in the gaming industry, which increasingly includes elements of diversity and representation in their games. The shift from the stereotypical binary norms in earlier games to the inclusivity of Baldur’s Gate 3 highlights the franchise's adaptation to contemporary expectations.

ABSTRACT. Assassin’s Creed Syndicate (Ubisoft Quebec 2015) is the ninth action-adventure title in the Assassin’s Creed franchise. Set in Victorian London, the game mixes historical fiction with real-world historical events, people, and environments. This research utilizes an analytical framework developed by the authors (2020), to examine the setting and the backdrop of significant political and social change in nineteenth-century Britain, including the role and agency of women in Victorian society. This study explores the depiction of lead – and supporting – female characters within Assassin’s Creed Syndicate and its reflection of Victorian “Britishness” (traditional, cultural, and social values embodied within Britain in the nineteenth century).

ABSTRACT. The aim of my paper is to present the analysis of a selection of the Slavic-themed video games published or produced after 2015 that utilise traditional Central and East European folklore as the main worldbuilding inspiration and include – either in the gameplay material and/or in the paratextual materials available before the publication of the game – the depiction of Baba Yaga. I approach the figure of Baba Yaga as a representation of femininity that could be deconstructed in the framework of cultural and social gerontology (Chi 2011, Holzberg 2021, Luborsky and Sankar 1993, Marshall 2022, Samanta 2017, Shrauf 2009, Twig 2015, Twigg and Martin 2015). While there are numerous studies on the elderly as players (eg. Dogruel et al. 2013) and the games for the elderly (eg. Li and Ren 2018), there seem to be significantly less literature focused solely on the representation of this demographic in video games, specifically when it comes to the representation of geriatric femininity (eg. Dill et al. 2005, Williams et al. 2009, Rughiniș and Toma 2011, Rughiniș, Rughiniș, and Elisabeta 2016) which should be studied independently, given the double standard of ageing (Sontag 1972), and with the use of specific critical tools (Rughiniș, Rughiniș, and Elisabeta 2016). I find the topic of the representation of elderly or aging women important and worth studying; even more so in the light of the recent Witcher 4 announcement controversy with the vocal disappointment expressed on social platforms at the main character being a grown up female that fails to present as a teenage girl. Published between 2015 and 2024, the games discussed are, as follows: Eventide (The House of Fables, 2015), Yaga (Breadcrumbs Interactive, 2019), Black Book (Morteshka, 2021), Night is Coming (Night Forest Studio, 2025), Scarlett Deer Inn (Attu Games, 2024), Blacktail (Parasight, 2022), Reka (Emberstorm Entertainment, 2024), and The End of the Sun (The End of the Sun Team, 2025) (as some of the games are currently still in the production phase, in their case I have analysed available paratextual materials or demo versions). Originally a folklore character of ambiguous nature, Baba Yaga has been widely recognised as a uniquely Slavic entity, which may contribute to her implementation in the games that are coded as Slavic, even though in some of the analysed titles her function is highly limited, which could perhaps suggest only the perfunctory, allegatory intertextuality (Mochocka 2022) employed for the sake of marketing visibility. Some of the titles mentioned, however, use Baba Yaga as a crucial existent of the gameworld or the playable character. In all of the above instances, my interest is first and foremost in the relationships between: 1. the traditional folklore depictions of Baba Yaga as discernible in folk tales and the scholarly (literary studies, folklore studies etc.) discussion and codification of the same, 2. the contemporary popcultural depictions, and 3. the Baba Yaga characters in the above mentioned games and their position in the framework of the mythos and ethos of the games’ worlds, specifically when it comes to the question of agency (Bódi 2023, Cole and Gillies 2021, Cole 2018, Domsch 2013, Frasca 2001, Muriel and Crawford 2020). The analysis concerns semiotic aspects of the characters such as their visual design as well as their gameplay functions, while the discussion of the findings relies on cultural gerontology. Throughout the ages, Baba Yaga has been ambiguous in that she either acts as an evil enemy of humankind, or as a helper that takes care of her people. What does not change, however, is that Baba Yaga is an elderly woman – and her depictions always highlight what a given interpretive community thinks of women past their reproductive stage. Her exaggerated, symbolic image may serve as a litmus test for what is, and what is not, accepted in an elderly woman (as it has always been). The preliminary findings show different strategies adopted by design studios in question, from fairly conventional repetition of well-grounded folk tropes to their creative re-appropriation. While re-appropriation and re-telling of the folk or fairy tales material (Eladhari 2018, Joosen 2011) is nothing new in culture (e.g. Angela Carter, Andrzej Sapkowski) and video games design (e.g. The Path, Tale of Tales, 2009), my special interest here is in the possible relationship between playability (aka adaptation into a medium that allows interaction) and changing – or upkeeping – traditional Slavic folklore tropes. Therefore, other than the above mentioned features of the Baba Yagas themselves, I also analyse their relationships with other elements of the gameworld, including – first and foremost – the player controlled character, to find out what range of agency the Baba Yagas have and how it correlates with other parameters such as their visual design. My preliminary findings show that old age seems to be a feature that – even in the games that situate Baba Yaga as a helper – should not be salient, as her character is often made look significantly young (Reka) or is young (Blacktail), or her age-related features are coded as comical (Yaga) or evoking sympathy by recalling weakness (Eventide). The characters with the most agency are invariably young-coded. As Twing and Martin (2015, 355) say, “cultural fields thus become central territory for the changing negotiation of age”, yet as it seems, deeply rooted assumptions concerning elderly women appear to be stable.

ABSTRACT. This paper explores how Playboy magazine and the Playboy Mansion shaped early gaming cultures through the lens of domestication theory. Focusing on backgammon, pinball, and early video games, it examines how Hugh Hefner’s lifestyle recontextualized play as a marker of urbane, heterosexual masculinity. Games became tools for reinforcing male sociability, status hierarchies, and gendered power dynamics, with women positioned as decorative participants. Through analysis of key features in Playboy (1973–1975), this paper highlights how Playboy normalized gaming as a male-coded activity. These dynamics prefigure the exclusions and toxicities of contemporary gaming cultures, revealing the deeply rooted gendering of 20th century play.

ABSTRACT. Human Agency has always been an important aspect of the player's gaming experience. Game designers and researchers have studied the definition of Agency in video games, how it is measured, and its relationship with game elements and other player experiences. However, the current understanding of Agency remains ambiguous and is often conflated with similar concepts. In this paper, we review the existing literature to distinguish Agency from its most similar concept, Autonomy, and propose a model based on a single completed player behaviour in a video game. This model also clarifies the related concepts of Self-Efficacy and Competence, which are strongly linked to Agency and Autonomy. By providing a clearer framework, this model enhances our understanding of the complexity of player experiences and contributes to the advancement of game design.

ABSTRACT. There is a narrow line that differentiates the concepts of game and play. Game design has been discussed in the context of digital artifacts while play design is an emerging concept and includes more than the digital element. In this work we contribute with understanding of how playful activities can be designed, by integrating the approach of Socioenactive Systems with phenomenological bases for understanding situations of play. The research seeks to overcome the limitations of traditional approaches, which often focus on digital games and neglect the diversity of playful practices found in different cultures and contexts. We propose a conceptual framework considering the social-physical-digital triad, enabling a deeper and more comprehensive analysis of playful experiences. Our main contributions include (i) a conceptual framework integrating phenomenology and Socioenactive Systems; and (ii) a pilot study of an application of a redesign of an existing playful situation. It is expected that the conceptual framework will inspire and inform researchers and professionals to explore the potential of playful practices as tools to promote social well-being and human development.

ABSTRACT. As in every other field of contemporary entertainment, the videogame industry has made significant strides in the representation of diversity and inclusion: what is referred to as the Inclusivity Renaissance has created a wider range of anti-stereotypical media narratives for numerous minority groups. Game developers such as Dontnod Entertainment (Life is Strange, Tell Me Why) can be considered pioneers in this regard thanks to how inclusive their titles are, for their characters and narrative design too. In videoludic worlds, thousands of gamers have the opportunity to explore their identities through alternative realities (e.g. life simulators like The Sims, through avatar’s immersion as it often acts as an alter ego, can enhance a sense of belonging). However, significant shortcomings still persist, including “a striking underrepresentation of characters whose bodies do not conform to the heterosexist concept of normativity, including those perceived as fat”. In your ludic subjectivity, you can be whoever you desire as long as you don't want to be fat. This paper examines the lack of positive representation of fat bodies in those contemporary videogames that use inclusivity as a selling point: we’re going to mainly focus on two open-world titles from 2023: Hogwarts Legacy and Baldur's Gate III. They were both glorified and acclaimed for the detailed and inclusive characterisation of their avatars (multiple skin colors, fluid sexualities, hairstyles and features of different ethnicities), they nonetheless show a homologation of body shapes. If Harry Potter’s books were already criticized for blunt fatphobia, the game doesn’t really fix that issue; in the same way, Baldur’s Gate III leaves fat bodies just to enemies and comic-relief cut-scenes. It is particularly noticeable for male prototypes: both of these open-world videogames favor standard models of underweight, average, and, if overweight, very muscular physiques (“You’re either dealing with Ricky Roid Rage and his ridiculously vascular forearms, or you’re in tiny waist and heaving bosom territory. Neither is a particularly healthy image to promote to young, impressionable gamers”). Through a critical analysis of character designs, customisation options offered to players, and plus-size representations in NPCs (limited to monstrous and/or ridiculed secondary characters), it will be highlighted how these misrepresentations contribute to perpetuating the permacrisis of stereotypes and stigmatization of the fat body (including, Reddit threads where the lack of fat characters in video games is pointed at an impossibility for overweight people to live in certain contexts while maintaining a high percentage of body fat’) while also serving as a snapshot of the contemporary social world: from woke-washing and inclusivity-baiting to theories on the influence of videogames on culture (with the Cultural Diamond’s theory) and the dehumanization of the fat body, this paper will not only highlight the need for more plus-size inclusivity in video games, but also touch on the implications and social repercussions of the lack of good representation of fat bodies in the contemporary visual cultural landscape. Videogames’ power of representation is usually overlooked when it comes to plus-size inclusivity, but thanks to studies regarding social media’s influence on fat stigmas and overall weight bias in the media, we are going to add considerations regarding the existing literature and how to improve it.

ABSTRACT. This paper presents research in the form of a micro-autoethnography of nostalgic gameplay memories belonging to the presenter. This work is framed through ideas around socially produced space, and how shared spaces of gameplay add additional layers to the nostalgia we might attach to memories of playing videogames with others.

ABSTRACT. This study explores cross-cultural communication in multiplayer online games through a combination of longitudinal digital ethnography, random teammate matching, and multimodal interaction analysis. By observing player interactions over six months across various game genres, including MOBA, FPS, and Battle Royale, the research examines how cultural backgrounds influence communication styles and collaborative behaviors. The study draws on theoretical frameworks such as Hofstede’s cultural dimensions, Hall’s high- and low-context communication, and Kress and van Leeuwen’s multimodal theory to interpret how players from collectivist and individualist cultures adapt their communication strategies. The findings highlight the role of game design elements, such as team-based objectives and character roles, in shaping cross-cultural interactions. Additionally, the research emphasizes the importance of adaptive multimodal tools and culturally neutral localization practices for fostering inclusive game design and promoting equitable representation in global gaming ecosystems.

ABSTRACT. In this paper we discuss the research-creation roadmap for the SunBlock One solar Minecraft server. SunBlock was devised as an ecomodding project that simultaneously addresses two major issues in energy transition research. The first, is the contribution of personal computing and especially gaming to the global carbon footprint and the second, on the role of popular and moddable sandbox games in fostering shared alternative energy imaginaries. While eco-game studies (Raessens, Werning and Farca 2024; Abraham 2022; Chang 2019) have made great analytic contributions around these topics, we do this by extending ecomodding (Werning 2021) practice to include the material conditions for gameplay itself. In our project, we actually play with power!

ABSTRACT. Virtual Reality (VR) is emerging as a powerful medium for engaging individuals with complex social issues, such as climate change. This study examines the effectiveness of VR in influencing psychological and behavioral responses to climate change through the immersive experience ‘Antwerp Under Water’. This VR intervention visualizes the impact of rising sea levels on Antwerp Central Station in Belgium, transporting participants across three time periods: a distant apocalyptic future, a near-future underwater scenario, and the present day, where informational content about climate impact is displayed. The VR scenario is designed to reduce psychological distance and evoke a sense of urgency regarding climate change, comparing its immersive environment with two less interactive modalities, a non-VR video, and a textual brochure. Using a within-between experimental design, the study investigates the relative effects of these three media on psychological distance, self-efficacy, response efficacy, and sustainable behavioral intentions.

Grounded in the Protection Motivation Theory (PMT) and Construal Level Theory (CLT), the research focuses on how immersive media can alter perceptions of severity, vulnerability, and coping capacity. The PMT framework is utilized to understand how individuals appraise climate-related threats and their ability to respond effectively, while CLT provides insights into the influence of psychological distance – spatial, temporal, and hypothetical – on risk perception. Piloting will ensure the clarity and reliability of the instruments, as well as the feasibility of the experimental setup. The study aims to reach 140 emerging adults aged 18-25, chosen for their increased use of digital media and high likelihood of experiencing the long-term effects of climate change. Participants will be randomly assigned to one of the three experimental conditions: VR, non-VR video, or brochure. The VR condition employs the Meta Quest 3 headset to create a fully immersive environment, while the non-VR condition presents the same narrative – a recording of the VR experience – on a 2D screen. The textual condition features a brochure with detailed descriptions and images of the same scenarios. A comprehensive pretest will capture baseline attitudes, including psychological distance, perceived threat severity, and self-efficacy, alongside demographic factors such as climate change literacy and technological literacy. Posttests will measure changes in these variables, along with sustainable behavioral intentions, using validated scales adapted for this context. Implicit sustainability preferences are assessed through an observational task: right after the intervention participants will be invited to grab some water and will be given a choice between tap water and bottled water. At the end of the experiment, participants will be invited to make a small donation. A list of ten charities will be presented, of which five are pro-environmental. The experiment will be complemented by a structured debriefing. Participants will then be invited for short interviews, taking place two weeks after the experiment, to collect qualitative feedback on their experiences. The study’s findings are expected to provide empirical evidence on the comparative efficacy of VR in reducing psychological distance and increasing perceived severity, vulnerability, and response efficacy. VR is hypothesized to outperform the non-immersive methods by leveraging its unique capacity to create vivid, experiential connections to abstract and/or distant threats. The research also accounts for the VR novelty effect, which could bias initial reactions. As such, the study contributes to the growing body of literature on the role of VR in environmental education and advocacy. Practical implications include insights for designing effective VR interventions for sustainability campaigns and educational programs. The findings are anticipated to inform the broader field of game design, offering strategies for leveraging immersive technologies to foster climate action. Moreover, our findings will also offer valuable insights into how VR can be leveraged effectively to foster awareness and facilitate behavioral change. Finally, the study aims to advance our understanding of how digital tools can drive meaningful change in attitudes and behaviors toward climate change.

ABSTRACT. This study investigates the role of video games, particularly sandbox games, as tools for environmental advocacy and education. By examining two top-down environmental campaigns that employ Minecraft, the research utilizes semi-structured interviews with campaign and software developers (n=6) and content analysis to develop a three-dimensional analytical model. This model examines the interplay between ecological issues, the network of actors involved (including NGOs, corporations, and public sector entities leveraging video games in their communication, as well as developers), and the broader video game ecosystem, encompassing software, assets, and paratextual elements such as promotional materials and community-driven discussions. The findings emphasize the importance of moving beyond a software-centric perspective to understand video games as dynamic ecosystems where diverse stakeholders contribute to meaning-making practices. This approach reveals both the opportunities and challenges of using video games for sustainability communication and education, particularly in engaging younger audiences and fostering environmental awareness and behavioral change.

ABSTRACT. We discuss how navigation works in video games with a focus on how it provides challenge for players. Informed by work on how humans navigate real world space we propose a framework to help guide the analysis and design of games. The framework considers three steps in the process of navigation: Destination (determining where the player needs to go), Routing (determining how to get there), and Execution (traveling along the route). We further articulate our framework by showing some of the ways that difficulty in navigating game spaces is managed. Our analysis was conducted in games in the Metroid series it stands as hallmark in Metroidvania games. This genre is one that places and emphasis on exploration, navigation, and non-linearity in terms of how the gameworld is traversed. Although we limit our analysis to 2D games, the framework is extensible to other kinds of spaces.

ABSTRACT. This extended abstract aims to explore the conception of MetroidBrainia. Using Animal Well as an example, we attempt to illuminate the distinct pleasures and contradictions embedded in MetroidBrainias. This paper presents a preliminary finding and discussion based on an online ethnographic observation of the Animal Well community on Discord.

ABSTRACT. A great deal of ink has been spilled on ecogaming (e.g., Chang 2019; Op de Beke et al. 2024), a strand of video games that explore environmental issues and speak to today’s ecological crises. The premise is that video games are both implicated in ideologies of human mastery over the natural world and capable of questioning those ideologies along two routes: through the direct representation of environmental issues (various forms of pollution and environmental disruption, climate change, natural disasters, etc.) and by implementing game mechanics that capture the systemic factors resulting in environmental degradation. Scholars of ecogaming have focused on a wide range of genres: strategy and city-building games, open-world action games such as Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar Games 2018), and adventure games like Kentucky Route Zero (Cardboard Computer 2020) have all been discussed for the way in which they build on, complicate, or enrich the player’s environmental imagination. (“Environmental imagination” is Lawrence Buell’s (1995) term for the way in which particular individuals and cultures understand the relationship between human communities and the nonhuman world.) “Metroidvania” games haven’t been featured in these discussions, however, which is surprising given the marked tendency to foreground ecological systems in (especially) recent renditions of the genre. Focusing on two Metroidvania titles, Rain World (Videocult 2017) and Hollow Knight (Team Cherry 2017), this paper explores the ecological value of three dimensions of the Metroidvania genre: the representational level of the setting, the interaction with AI-controlled enemies, as well as the gradual opening up of the game world as new mechanics are added to the player’s repertoire. The typical Metroidvania gameplay loop involves revisiting locations that have already been explored by the player, thus breaking with the sequential spatiality of many game genres (including the platformers from which, arguably, the Metroidvania genre derives). Instead of linear exploration, Metroidvania games encourage (and in some cases require) the player to backtrack to earlier locations to discover what new interactions are afforded by the player-character’s recently acquired skills or knowledge of how the game world works. Our core claim is that the basic structure of this loop is inherently ecological in the sense of James J. Gibson’s (1986) psychology: more clearly than in other game genres, it foregrounds the player’s sensorimotor engagement with a dynamically evolving game world, and in that respect it promises to stimulate the player’s environmental imagination not only in relation to the game world but in real-world terms as well. This ecological dimension of the genre’s basic gameplay is amplified by the games’ representational strategies (on the level of plot, themes, and atmosphere) and also by the simulation of ecosystemic relations, which is particularly pronounced in Rain World’s procedurally generated animation and complex AI.

ABSTRACT. Mascot horror is a popular gaming genre that has emerged exclusively online but, despite its domination of the indie horror gaming community, it is largely unstudied within academia. While a handful of studies have been conducted on the games’ design and character reception, there has been no interrogation of the values these games represent.

In this paper we provide a definition of mascot horror based on an analysis of three popular titles: Five Nights at Freddy's: Security Breach, Poppy Playtime, and Garten of Banban. This analysis not only identifies recurring motifs—such as cartoonish antagonists associated with children’s media, gross corporate misconduct, and late 20th century nostalgia—but also identifies the way transmedia storytelling techniques have been utilised by the games’ developers to secure a large, secondary children’s audience. An audience that is, ultimately, introduced to heteronormative gender stereotypes through mascot horror games and their merchandise.

ABSTRACT. My research is a comparison of the representation of monstrosity between two editions of successful and long lived tabletop role-playing games Vampire: the Masquerade: the fourth, also known as V20, released in 2011 and the fifth, known as V5, released in 2018.

It approaches TRPGs as a protostory (Koenitz, 2018) consisting of affordances (Linderoth, 2011; Shaw, 2017) for creating different events, which can be united into a single narrative (Jara & Turner, 2018). The relative ease of instantiating different narratives serves as a form of coding an ideology, providing us with opportunity to classify particular representations of monstrosity emerging during specific game sessions or character creation as hegemonic, negotiated or oppositional decoding (Hall, 1991) of the game rules in their entirety. My understanding of monstrosity itself builds upon the works by Jaroslav Svelch, specifically on the opposition between sublime and contained monstrosity (Svelch, 2023, pp. 10, 12), which I connect with the broader ideas of enchanted and disenchanted worlds (Taylor, 2007; Saler, 2012) respectively.

Svelch shows that some monsters possessed a sublime quality, achieved by their abilities to breach cognitive and categorical boundaries and force us to confront parts of ourselves we prefer to keep hidden, both literally and metaphorically. An important part of the sublime quality is the fact that some information about monsters is missing, obscure, or incomprehensible. On the contrary, contained monstrosity implies understanding of the monster that became quantifiable and ontologically controlled, or, at least, controllable.

Monsters tended to be framed as sublime creatures in the pre-modern societies, although there is no simple correspondence: for example, medieval bestiaries already can be framed as an attempt to contain monstrosity. But a shift toward a disenchanted world made containing the monstrosity crucial for sustaining this emerging worldview. Importantly, we understand disenchantment not as a neutral description of the historical situation, but as an ongoing project (Adorno and Horkheimer 1972), specific for some parts of the world while absent in others, and heavily steeped in its own myths (Barthes 1972).

An important part of those myths try to establish an understanding of pre-modern, enchanted world, aiming at naturalizing the disenchantment as inevitable – for example, subtraction stories (Taylor 2007:29) picture disenchantment as liberation of underlying features of human nature that have been there all along. Many tabletop RPGs inspired by pre-modern narratives and imagery yet aimed at modern audiences, often recreate this mythology. For example, monsters are often depicted not as a sublime entity, but as a specific type of creature that just appears inexplicable to an untrained eye (Chrulew 2006). Still, games like V5 offer an alternative.

To untangle this complicated situation, I distinguish between playing as a monster and performing monstrosity. Playing as a monster entails embodying a character encoded to resonate (Chapman 2016) with the popular understanding of monsters, typically through some form of aesthetic signs. Performing monstrosity utilizes the affordances of the game to simulate (Frasca 2003; Simpson 2011) traits associated with monstrosity as part of the game experience. The distinction between these two concepts reflects the aforementioned opposition between contained and sublime monstrosity.

V20 generally tends to offer more opportunities for players to play as monsters. Despite vampires serving as playable characters rather than opponents, they still adhere to the logic of contained monstrosity established by Dungeons and Dragons, and permeating the tabletop RPG industry (Svelch 2023: 40). Vampires are clearly organized in terms of rules, with each clan and Discipline described through simple number-based logic, making them fundamentally predictable. There are limited affordances for establishing either player characters or NPCs as obscure or incomprehensible.

V5 modifies this approach. The introduction of variable "strength" of a clan's weaknesses, more varied powers available for vampire characters, and greater emphasis on the unique weaknesses of particular vampires through the System of Merits and Flaws make vampires much less predictable. Particularly important here is the influence of blood that vampire characters drink on their powers and behavior, that simulates monstrous ability to assume qualities of their victims, breaching individualised, “buffered” identities of modernity (Taylor 2007: 27) This provides more affordances for portraying vampires as less comprehensible and classifiable monsters.

Rule-based affordances are augmented by narrative ones – the introduction of new antagonists, such as the Second Inquisition, a government-based agency aimed at "containing" vampires, both in epistemological and pragmatic terms. It creates more opportunities for emerging stories to focus on the liminal character of vampires as creatures that are neither entirely human nor something else entirely.

Svelch points out two potential approaches to problematizing monstrosity in the context of modern games: failure of distancing, as the human subject cannot distinguish itself from the monster, and failure of engagement, as the human subject is unable to engage the monster directly (Svelch 2023: 107-108). V5 contains affordances for creating stories around both of these types of failures, told, in this case, from the monster's point of view. The monster may wish to either breach the boundaries between monsters and humans or to avoid confrontation with monster-hunters, as opposed to fighting out the conflict, a tactic coded as non-preferable.

The difference between two games can and should be put into historical context. V20, despite being released in 2011, is faithful in its game design, including its approach to monstrosity, to the original 1991 version of the game. In turn, V5 represents a reimagining of Masquerade with a clear attempt at expanding an audience and bringing its game design and worldbuilding convention more in line with current trends. In such a context, the shift within this game should not be viewed as an isolated incident, but as a telling example of a wider attempt at redefining the role of monstrosity in the games (e. g. Wilde 2024), both digital and analog, previously started by smaller projects like Monsterhearts, Spire or The Deep Forest.

Bibliography

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ABSTRACT. This extended abstract builds on my previous DIGRA papers exploring trans embodiment in play, raising the visibility of trans developers in the medium, and reciprocally generating new perspectives on how players interface with games more broadly (Anon, 2023; Anon, 2024). It responds to Ruberg’s call for a new wave of disciplinary investment in Trans Game Studies (2022) through an audio-visual-haptic (Keogh, 2018) and textual (Mäyrä, 2008) analysis of the little-researched corpus of trans horror developer Kitty Horrorshow. This research haunts, and expands on, recent scholarly attention given to her most famous work Anatomy (2016) by Christine Prevas in her exploration of the glitch as a mechanic of trans speculation (2023) and Amy LeBlanc from a Gothic and Disability Studies perspective (2024), to argue for a more general model of trans (dis)embodiment in games. Through first-person exploration of minimalist 32-bit architecture that exploits the uncanny nature of houses as both homely and unheimlich (Vidler, 1992), her players are confronted with themes such as the ineffable, the inhospitable, the trace and the self-negating: low-poly sci-fi ruins haunted by the present absence of a visible threat, and by the disembodied cursor of the player.

ABSTRACT. In the era of participatory culture, where everyone becomes a produser (Bruns 2005), individuals are increasingly encouraged to design gamified experiences that manage and enrich their personal lifestyles. The produsage of gamification, guided by a ludic logic, is reshaping daily life. It alters how we interact with the world, redefines our behaviors, and generates new demands and meanings in the process. This research focuses on the Protagonist Training Project, a collective creative activity on Xiaohongshu, where produsers share gamified strategies for self-cultivation and self-motivation, fostering a space of mutual encouragement, support, and accountability. The results show that produsers on social media employ gamified rhetorics to infuse their self-motivated activities with game-like experiences, consequently expanding the concept, space, forms, and potential of gamification.

ABSTRACT. Participatory culture has become central to various fields, particularly in relation to media convergence and collective intelligence (Jenkins, 2006). Within this trend, user-generated content in video games serves as a critical site of contemporary participatory culture, prominently featuring game mod design and transmedia fandom. The Sims series, a life simulation game resembling a dollhouse from the perspective of an omniscient deity, exemplifies a participatory culture that fosters DIY creativity and modding communities (Price, 2014). Modding within The Sims can be categorized into interpretation, configuration, reworking, and redirection (Sihvonen, 2011). As a tool for transmedia fandom, modding enables players to construct their own versions of The Sims. Utilizing creative modding tools, players can build distinct worlds filled with customized families, surfaces, and gameplay rules. The Sims is often regarded as a “real-life genre,” wherein gamers share core assumptions about reality (Nutt & Railton, 2003). However, it is important to recognize that these shared assumptions may not resonate equally with players from diverse cultural backgrounds outside North America. Therefore, this paper focuses on the overlooked participatory fandom of Chinese female players, specifically examining the case of family building within the context of traditional Royal Harem narratives. Given that the gameplay of The Sims inherently involves themes of romance and family, players easily discover pathways to life writing (Rak, 2015) and reflections on family values (Sicart, 2003) during their play. Consequently, participatory fandom often intersects with the legacy of melodramatic literature, particularly in genres such as the romantic campus novel and contemporary vampire romance. The YouTube channel GoodChills Studio produces videos of The Sims inspired by this tradition. Chinese players share a similar tendency to create romantic stories, yet they uniquely construct family dynamics through the lens of a Royal Harem set in ancient China. It not only provides customized appearances but also establishes self-consistent rules that reorganize the gaming experience. Modding, in this context, becomes a cultural intersection between family hierarchy in ancient China and The Sims' family mechanisms, symbolizing the nexus of transnational game fandom. Specifically, this paper discusses the history of The Sims fandom among Chinese female players, emphasizing the evolution of Royal Harem narratives. Their modding practices have progressed from simple appearance changes in The Sims 1 to comprehensive playable systems in The Sims 4. The competition between the Empress and Imperial Concubines presents a gaming challenge that introduces original functions within Royal Harem modding, such as female title ranks, a buff and debuff system, and special events aligned with ancient Chinese history. Notably, the design of these mods closely corresponds to Chinese period dramas, such as Empresses in the Palace (Zhen Huan Zhuan, 2015). Even the aromatic objects from this TV series that evoke sentiments (Yang, 2021) could inspire game objects in the mod. Through a close examination of the Chinese mod “the Royal Harem” (2023) in The Sims 4, I will analyze its target audience, player critiques, and live-streaming reactions on the Chinese video-sharing platform Bilibili. I argue that there is an ambivalent dynamic within the fandom of Chinese female players as they navigate family and gender issues. On one hand, unlike the activist stance of female fandom regarding gender topics in the United States (Scott, 2019), they do not reject the practice of conservative family values in the videogame participatory fandom. On the other hand, they engage with these conservative values playfully, adopting the perspective of an observer through the lens of The Sims.

REFERENCES Jenkins, H. 2006. Convergence culture: where old and new media collide. New York: New York University Press. Jenkins, H. 2006. Fans, bloggers, and gamers: exploring participatory culture. New York: New York University Press. Price, L. 2014. “The Sims: A Retrospective–A Participatory Culture 14 Years On.” Intensities: The Journal of Cult Media, (7), 135-140. Rak, J. 2015. “Life writing versus automedia: The Sims 3 game as a life lab.” Biography, 155-180. Scott, S., ProQuest, & ProQuest. 2019. Fake geek girls: fandom, gender, and the convergence culture industry. New York: New York University Press. Sicart, M. 2003. “Family Values: Ideology, Computer Games & The Sims.” Conferencia. LevelUp. Universidad de Utrecht. Sihvonen, T. 2011. Players unleashed: modding the Sims and the culture of gaming. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press. Nutt, D., & Railton, D. 2003. “The Sims: Real Life as Genre.” Information, Communication & Society, 6(4), 577–592. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118032000163268 Yang, J. 2021. “The power of aroma: Gender, biopolitics and melodramatic imagination in the Legend of Zhen Huan.” Feminist Media Studies, 21(5), 707-720.

ABSTRACT. What happens to Disney theme park rides like “Splash Mountain” or the “Mad Tea Party” when they become military-grade weapons of mass destruction? The “Attraction Flow Attack” mechanic in Kingdom Hearts III represents exactly that; weaponized, denarrativized, and spatially-abstracted amusement park rides. As an ambitious JRPG crossover between Disney’s intellectual properties and Square Enix’s Final Fantasy series, the Kingdom Hearts series (hereafter KH) is no stranger to experimental game mechanics. Indeed, the series has become synonymous with gameplay innovations in every title–from “flowmotion” world navigation to 3DS touchscreen attacks or TCG-style combinatorial world construction. These continual mechanical innovations help to synthesize the complex entanglement of Japanese and Euroamerican cultural, creative, and commercial identities across transnational legal frameworks, corporate strategies, and platforms. So it might come as a surprise that the Attraction Flow attacks were viciously ridiculed by the KH fanbase, with many calling it the single worst element of the entire game. The most iconic feature of Disney’s historical influence on storytelling practices, the theme park ride, is not at home in the KH media mix.

In this talk, we argue that the KHIII Attraction Flow controversy is symptomatic of a platformized approach to storytelling and the unique constraints and tensions it produces. We suggest that the Kingdom Hearts “superfranchise” (Birdsall 2021), and other emergent modes of platform storytelling, necessitate a new hermeneutic approach beyond influential frameworks of “transmedia storytelling” and the “media mix” (Jenkins 2006; Steinberg 2012). Following Fredric Jameson’s influential characterization of the political unconscious and James Malazita’s recent approach to platforms as enacted sociotechnical objects (Jameson 1981; Malazita 2024), we describe the “platform unconscious” as the way in which nonpublic conflicts between platforms and creators over the control of intellectual property manifest within the worlds of the properties themselves, from technical affordances and narrative arcs to marketing campaigns and merchandising. Through an examination of narrative and ludic worldbuilding in KHIII within the context of broader struggles over IP between Square-Enix and Disney, we hope to demonstrate that the worlds of the KH franchise themselves disclose global postcapitalist struggles over creative expression (Huber & Mandiberg 2009; Kunzelman 2019; Nguyen 2022).

As an attempted reconciliation of two influential approaches to storytelling–Square Enix’s characteristic anime-inspired JRPG model and Disney’s iconic storybook modernism–the worlds of KH from their very beginning had to negotiate the frictions between different national traditions. Disney’s three-dimensional approach to cinematography, which incorporated parallax techniques and multiplane cameras (Gottwald 2021), helped to resuscitate the flagging amusement park industry in the 1950s by infusing fantasy narratives into the spatial logics of the attractions themselves. By the 1970s, Disneyland and Disney World’s closed-circuit narratives epitomized American consumerist nationalism–theme park design homogenized the experience of park visitors, with rides designed to insert them into the space of Disney worlds and vendors positioned strategically to smoothly supply the ongoing fantasy of participation in those worlds through commodity consumption (Baudrillard 1994, 12-14; Eco 1986; Wilson 2013). Tokyo Disney first opened in 1983 as an ambivalent symbol of Japanese postmodern nationalism (Yoshimoto 2013), and the very next year, Akira Toriyama released the first manga issue in the influential Dragon Ball Z franchise–a relentless pastiche of Japanese post-war nationalist values propagated through Sports Anime and Shōnen Jump (Suvilay 2018). Disney’s formula for “environmental storytelling” exerted a profound influence on game design and criticism–from Don Carson to Henry Jenkins to Scott Rogers (Carson 2000; Jenkins 2004; Rogers 2009). At the same time, Toriyama’s epic anime aesthetics, themselves inspired by his earlier work on Dragon Quest, set the template for the nascent JRPG genre, for which Square-Enix remains the exemplar. From games to stories and back again.

These two approaches to storytelling are reflected in two KHIII worlds: Arendelle (from Frozen) and Toy Box (from Toy Story). Arendelle’s linear labyrinths, closely following the movie narrative, mimic the pathways of Disneyland theme parks by triggering cutscenes at specific points on the map (Nguyen 2022). At the time of release, fans lamented the lack of originality this world afforded and agonized over the egregious reproduction of the “Let it Go” song number in totality. All events pertinent to the overarching storyline take place in moments where Sora, Donald and Goofy are separated from Elsa, using the hypermobility features to scale mountains and evade avalanches while tracking down enemies outside the fiction of Frozen. In contrast, Toy Box includes an entirely original narrative arc that encapsulates not just the Toy Story universe, but the universe of a repurposed and previously cancelled work of Tetsuya Nomura’s: Final Fantasy XIII-Versus (in game: Verum Rex). Unlike Arendelle, Disney characters undergo unique narratives with Sora and Co., commenting on the overarching antagonist's (Young Xehanort) plans and fighting alongside them. In a moment of dramatic support for Sora, Woody roasts Young Xehanort, “My guess is no one’s ever loved you before. Because you know nothing about hearts and love.” This moment is famous among KH fans for showcasing the dynamic that is most revered between IPs: genuine creative originality. Pixar requested an original storyline to be developed by the Japanese team, which became a “piecemeal trust-building exercise” for both parties (Denison 2022). The collaborative nature of this world-building process opened doors for Nomura to re-introduce Verum Rex, a non-Pixar property, into the Pixar universe to build foundations for KHIV. The fan reception to these worlds and their confusion about the spectrum of these narrative choices reflect the inaccessibility of the platform unconscious and, as a consequence, inspires their conspiratorial analysis (Bowman 2022).

In addition to KH, Disney has increasingly focused on platformized multiverse narratives, as evidenced through their recent acquisitions of Marvel and LucasArts along with the creation of many crossover properties–Disney Infinity, Lorcana, Dreamlight Valley, and a recently announced collaboration with Epic Games’ Fortnite. Moreover, the very engine that has enabled the new hypermobile gameplay of KHIII, Epic’s Unreal Engine, has been used in the design, modeling, and hybrid interactivity of over fifteen Disney Park attractions (Walt Disney Company 2024). Disneyland has fully transitioned from Hyperreality to Unreal Reality. This platform convergence and its attendant subjectivities demand both new forms of hermeneutics and new ethical responsibilities. The platform unconscious validates and empowers fandom discourses connecting narratives within properties to the backroom struggles over IP control, marketing synergies, and technical design waged in today’s postcapitalist landscape. It invites us to think differently about the capacities of aesthetic production and critical reception for resistance to the new world order.

ABSTRACT. From the very beginning, digital games have never been solely about individual experience. They have been part of shared experiences involving co-presence, collaborative exploration, spectatorship and community building in private and public contexts, with discourse about games and the experience of play taking place in magazines, advertisements, walkthrough guides and game centers’ communication notes. In recent years, this exploration of game spaces takes place most prominently on the internet, through walkthroughs, wikis and similar guides (such as Gamefaqs, IGN.com etc) and, of course, through live streaming and video sharing of gameplay on platforms such as YouTube, Twitch, Bilibili or Niconico Video. Considering the vast amount of video game-related content posted daily on these platforms, relatively little research exists on the content of the videos, or on how they contribute to or constitute game culture and, more specifically, player and user community discourses around certain games. Much of the research relies on the generic term of “Let’s play”, and rarely addresses the diversity of content about video games on platforms such as YouTube, their variety of formats, content types and valorisations of digital games. What is more, little attention is given to the local and regional diversity of platforms such as YouTube. As a first step toward creating a more nuanced, regionally contextualized account of platform-mediated videos about video games, this paper proposes a system of categories to analyse and distinguish video game-related videos across different languages on YouTube. Our goal is to complement and expand on the broad category of Let’s Play and provide a basic set of characteristics for describing the range and variation of content in different games, regional communities and video creation practices.

ABSTRACT. In recent decades, digital game play has expanded notably into the space of video streaming and sharing platforms such as Twitch.tv, Bilibili, NicoNico Video, and YouTube. This shift has significant relevance for gaming cultures around the world. It renders more and more formerly private play experiences public, turning them into platform-mediated performances with the potential to generate revenues. It tentatively makes play experiences accessible to a wide range of users across the globe, thus making community practice transparent and providing information, knowledge and entertainment to diverse audiences that include players and non-players alike. However, while research on Let’s Plays and live streaming exists (Taylor 2018; Spilker, Ask, and Hansen 2020; Radde-Antweiler and Zeiler 2015; Ackermann 2017), edited videos about games and their surrounding cultural practices remain understudied. YouTube in particular, despite being a frequently used resource in teaching and researching videogame contents, player practices and related cultural processes, it is rarely considered as a space of digital game and play culture in its own right.

This paper presents a number of preliminary insights into the diverse engagements with and cultural and social practices around digital games YouTube facilitates in East Asian language spaces. Drawing on my recent mixed-method exploration of game-related YouTube spaces in Japanese, Korean and Chinese, this paper asks 1.) how games are played, performed and negotiated on YouTube in and across these language spaces, 2.) how YouTube affords and limits such negotiations technically and spatially, and 3.) how it is positioned within and interlinked with the wider space of digital platforms and its economic underpinnings.

In order to answer these questions, I analyze metadata and comments belonging to popular and relevant videos referring to Street Fighter 6 and Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom in the aforementioned languages, adding English to the data set. The two games were chosen due to their popularity in the regions considered, their genre differences, and their similar release dates, which opened up a possibility for studying video and user engagement over time. The data were gathered over the course of one year between October 2023 and October 2024 via the YouTube API by first requesting the 100 most viewed videos and the 100 most relevant videos in each language (Japanese, Korean, Chinese Traditional, Chinese Simplified, English) for each game, and then gathering metadata and comment data via the YouTube API (with order = “viewCount” and “relevance” respectively, and relevanceLanguage iterating through the abovementioned languages), using custom python code and the lean version of the passable youtube grabber (https://github.com/zoomingmediaresearch/pyg-lean).

The data gathered captures the development of both videos and their comment activity over time and allows for both quantitative and qualitative analyses. The initial analysis presented in this paper focuses on 1.) the ways in which the two games are played and performed on YouTube, by considering and comparing the content of the videos in each language region; 2.) the ways in which both games and their performances are perceived and negotiated among the users and viewers in and across language regions, by analyzing the emerging user networks and comments; and 3.) the potential of a translingual space and thus a transregionally shared gaming culture constituted by video sharing and viewing practices on YouTube, by considering the languages and viewer practices in and across the language spaces.

The results demonstrate a diversity of developments that characterizes game-related YouTube spaces both in and across East Asian language spaces. Framing the some of the tentative conclusions about the emerging platform-mediated digital play on YouTube, this paper aims to expand the notion of game play beyond the screen, thus connecting to recent discussions about the need to rethink the position of what is often referred to as paratext (Consalvo 2017; Galey 2023; Švelch 2020). By positioning YouTube in the regional landscape of regional platforms in East Asia (Steinberg and Li 2017), I further identify the limitations of my approach with regard to better understanding gaming culture beyond game play.

REFERENCES

Ackermann, J., ed. 2017. Phänomen Let´s Play-Video: Entstehung, Ästhetik, Aneignung und Faszination aufgezeichneten Computerspielhandelns. Wiesbaden: Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden.

Consalvo, M. 2017. “When Paratexts Become Texts: De-Centering the Game-as-Text.” Critical Studies in Media Communication. 34 (2): 177–83.

Alan. 2023. “Introduction: Reconsidering Paratext as a Received Concept.” Games and Culture. 18 (6): 708–17.

Radde-Antweiler, K. and Zeiler, X. 2015. “Methods for Analyzing Let’s Plays: Context Analysis for Gaming Videos on YouTube.” gamevironments. 2:100–139.

Spilker, H. S., Ask, K., and Hansen, M. 2020. “The New Practices and Infrastructures of Participation: How the Popularity of Twitch.Tv Challenges Old and New Ideas about Television Viewing.” Information, Communication & Society. 23 (4): 605–20.

Steinberg, M., and Li, J. 2017. “Introduction: Regional Platforms.” Asiascape: Digital Asia. 4 (3): 173–83.

Švelch, J. 2020. “Paratextuality in Game Studies: A Theoretical Review and Citation Analysis.” Game Studies. 20 (2).

Taylor, T. L. 2018. Watch Me Play: Twitch and the Rise of Game Live Streaming. Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press.

ABSTRACT. The use of digital avatars in live streaming, called VTubing, has seen a steady rise over the past 5 years. The increase in VTubing has had transformational effects on streaming as a practice, and on game culture in a larger sense. Previous work on VTubing indicates that the creation of the digital avatar is a central aspect of the practice. This work also indicates that the presence of the avatar is a major draw to performers and viewers, and changes perceptions of the stream for both. However much present work focuses on larger audience VTubers, or those who are backed by a studio. This work investigates a question and answer forum for VTubers to understand their perception of the practice in terms of day-to-day requests for information and advice. It contributes a framework of VTubing as a practice that can be built upon in future theoretical work within this domain.

ABSTRACT. In recent years, game production studies have emphasized the need to understand local production sites through the concept of translocality (Kerr, 2017) and to explore video game creation beyond the stereotypical image of the industry (Keogh, 2023). This ongoing research is grounded in these reflections and aims to understand the local video game production landscape in Barcelona, specifically focusing on the production process of a studio with significant participation by female developers and how its members make sense of their experiences. To address these questions, we draw on the theoretical frameworks of Pierre Bourdieu and Nira Yuval-Davis.

ABSTRACT. This work aims to analyse the history and operational mechanisms of the video game production cluster in Turin, Italy. Specifically, the characteristics of the cluster – including its organisational, institutional and relational mechanisms –, will be presented. The competitive advantages offered by the city of Turin will also be explained, as well as its criticalities for the industry. This study is part of the Horizon research project ‘GAME-ER’ (Gaming Clusters Across Multiple European Regions), whose goal is to research how video game clusters emerge, develop and sustain themselves, with a focus on local and regional clusters located in five European countries (France, Czechia, Portugal, Italy and Scotland).

ABSTRACT. This article focuses on narratives that approach the topic of game cultural and cultural expectations from the point of view lapsed players. The interviews of 22 Finnish lapsed players were analyzed by using reflexive thematic analysis (Braun and Clarke 2022) and examined through the lens of narrative expectations analysis (Hyvärinen 1994). The analyses resulted in two themes: defying normative behavior and feeling the pressures of implied player. These themes illustrate that the expectations related to players entangle with expectations related to adults and mothers and reveal the need to update these cultural scripts to make game cultures more welcoming and diverse.

ABSTRACT. Design cases serve as rich sources of contextualized knowledge, detailing how designed artifacts are created and used in practice (Boling 2010). These cases can illuminate the actions of designers in context, which may diverge from existing models and methodologies (Herriott 2013). Serious games, which can be understood as games developed for purposes beyond entertainment, such as education, training, or awareness, offer unique opportunities for engagement but present intricate design demands. A variety of design-related or external factors can influence these demands. We hypothesized that analyzing serious game design cases could provide insights that would inform future game design and development practices that consider contextual complexities. Our thematic analysis of design cases addressed the following questions:

1) What types of decisions are made by designers in the design and development processes of serious games? 2) What types of challenges do designers face in the design and development processes of serious games?

A search of the literature was conducted using the terms “serious game” “design case” across Google Scholar (357 results) and “game” in a journal that specializes in design cases, the International Journal of Designs for Learning (53 results). After abstract-level screening, 29 papers met the criteria for inclusion for this study: 1) these papers covered robust design cases that included extensive and transparent information about context and design and development practices, including failures and obstacles, and 2) the design cases focused on the design of games created for an objective other than pure entertainment. Cases that focused on gamification and simulations, or that did not provide enough detail about the entire design process, did not meet the criteria.

After the paper selection process was finalized, the lead researcher extracted relevant information from each article. Game descriptions, genres, target audiences, and design and development tools and materials used were captured. This researcher also extracted key design decisions and challenges from each case. After this step was done, two different researchers reviewed the information extracted to ensure its accuracy. The lead researcher and another researcher then coded the design decisions and challenges from each design case and, finally, organized these codes into relevant themes.

The design cases discussed games that varied in format (20 digital, 8 analog, and 1 hybrid) and targeted diverse audiences, including school-age students, undergraduates, professionals, medical patients, and museum visitors. All but two of the cases described design and development processes that were collaborative in nature. The serious games discussed were developed using a variety of tools and skills such as game engines, UI/UX software, coding languages, and physical materials and spaces in the case of analog games.

Our thematic analysis revealed several key types of design decisions. Decisions were made to establish a collaborative and iterative design process that involved students and other relevant stakeholders. Several studies emphasized the importance of stakeholder input in continuous development. Furthermore, decisions related to providing player support were also highlighted in many studies. Different strategies, such as in-game guidance and student facilitation, were adopted to reduce the learning curve for gameplay. Designers also made key decisions in establishing the game world and narrative and the player's role in the game context, connecting content to a storyline. The design of feedback, both implicit and instructional, also required careful consideration.

The design cases analyzed point, however, to persistent challenges in serious game design. Balancing educational and entertainment objectives is discussed as an issue in several designs. These often-non-complementary objectives also made it difficult for designers to align instructional context and practice with game mechanics. Our analysis also highlights challenges in managing contextual variables such as target audience, place of play, resources, and time in design, testing, and play. Moreover, several cases described the difficulty of maintaining player engagement and ensuring a desired flow of gameplay in testing sessions, with decreasing interest as games progressed. Usability issues were also encountered.

Our findings contribute to the understanding of serious game design as a complex, context-dependent process. The analysis of serious game design cases highlights how real-world constraints and variables can impact game design decisions.

ABSTRACT. See the extended abstract itself.

ABSTRACT. This study presents a hybrid approach to scenario adaptation in serious games, using Finite State Machines (FSMs) and Agent-Based Models (ABMs). Focusing on the educational RPG genre of software development, the proposed model aims to automatically adjust the behavior of non-playable characters (NPCs) and the game's progression based on the player's actions and preferences. The methodology included a literature review, followed by the development of a simulation in the JFLAP software, integrating FSMs to manage states and ABMs to promote dynamic and realistic reactions. The results highlight the viability of this integration, which offers an immersive experience by combining predictability and flexibility in the behavior of NPCs. As a limitation, we identified the need for more advanced tools to integrate the technologies. For future work, it is proposed that frameworks be developed to facilitate this approach's implementation.

ABSTRACT. This study explores the interdisciplinary collaborative process of video game development within medium-sized studios. The research focuses on understanding how the multidisciplinary nature of game development evolves into a collaborative exchange between various disciplines, and how multidisciplinary practices in game development transform into interdisciplinary collaborations.

ABSTRACT. In 2005, The Sims designer Will Wright proposed that Procedural Content Generation (PCG) would be the “future of content” in games (Wright 2005).1 PCG is a way to automate the creation of content through random procedures that are encoded in software, and has become a common tool in games development – especially to create game worlds.2 In many cases, procedural generation occurs as the player plays the game, like in the world and item generation of Dwarf Fortress (Bay 12 Games 2006), No Man’s Sky (Hello Games 2016), Ultima Ratio Regum (Johnson 2011), and Minecraft (Mojang Studios 2011). On the other hand, PCG is often used during development to create pre-made assets – like the trees of Far Cry 5 (Ubisoft Montreal and Ubisoft Toronto 2018) or the planets of Starfield (Bethesda Game Studios 2023) – to populate the game world, but which the player never actually sees the generation of. While both forms of content production are PCG, there have been few attempts to make a distinction between them, as the interchangeable use of “PCG” to refer to both forms of production flattens and hides their labour-based and aesthetic particularities. In this paper, I aim to show what these two distinct forms of production – what I will call “Runtime PCG” and “Development PCG” – tell us about the automation of games production, and about how this automation affects aesthetics: a crucial thing to examine in an industry that is not only facing ever-increasing automation (Chia 2022), but continuing waves of layoffs (Carpenter 2024).

Following from Galloway’s argument that “video games are actions” (Galloway 2006), I define the first form of PCG – where the algorithm is executed and the world is created only when the player launches the game – as “Runtime PCG”. We can see Runtime PCG occurring when we press “generate world” in Dwarf Fortress or Minecraft, and in its most extreme examples it expresses what Mark Johnson has called a “procedural aesthetic” (Johnson 2020). Through a close analysis of generation in Freehold Games’ 2015 Science-fantasy rogue-like Caves of Qud (Fig. 1), I show how Runtime PCG is an extension of 20th century conceptual and computer art movements that emphasized the process and labour of artistic production as much as the finished work (Hartung 2018; Lippard 1997; Taylor 2014). Using conceptual artist Sol LeWitt’s essay “Paragraphs on Conceptual Art” (LeWitt 1967) as a leaping-off point, I propose that the Runtime PCG in Caves of Qud foregrounds the production process within the form of the game itself, as the complexity of the PCG system comes to be just as aesthetically important as the content it produces. Rather than simply trying to automate the production of content as efficiently as possible, games like Caves of Qud have idiosyncrasies to their generation systems that aestheticizes generation, producing a self-reflexive “procedural rhetoric” (Bogost 2007) that helps players think through the production of games.

By contrast, I label PCG performed during the game’s development as Development PCG. Building off Aleena Chia’s work on PCG and outsourced labour (Chia 2022) as well as Capital Vol. 1 (Marx 1990), I argue that Development PCG’s purpose is often to automate what would otherwise be human labour through more efficiently creating assets. This not only changes the quantity of human labour used on the game, but the quality of it, as with Development PCG there is an increased distinction between the “conceptual work” of world-building and narrative writing, and the “articulation work” of ensuring that generated outputs meet the desired goals (Star and Strauss 1999). Just as the approach of Runtime PCG changes the gameplay and aesthetics, I argue that the automation of Development PCG contributes to a form of commodity fetishism that hides the game’s production in the game’s form. These games refer to a “reified” (Fang 2024) aesthetic of nature to hide automation – as Developed PCG often aims to create more “realistic” game assets through modelling natural processes (like erosion and tree growth) to justify the displacement of workers (Galloway 2004). Through this, I will show that Starfield’s planets are not in fact created by erosion, but rather by masses of “dead labour” (Marx 1990).

Across these examinations, my paper shows the need for a critical lexicon that understands the forms that PCG takes in production, and how it manifests in games. With the massive wave of layoffs that have recently plagued the industry – no doubt partially due to the rapid rise of automation and generative systems — it is now more crucial than ever to understand the relationship that the formal elements of games have to production and automation. This paper is therefore an important contribution to understanding the ideologies that hold our “future of content” together, not only at their most expressive and interesting, but their most problematic too.

ABSTRACT. When discussing time spent playing video games, concern and media panic often cloud the perspectives of both developers and players. To develop our understanding of factors that may influence this concern, we examined the presence of time-centric language across the marketing information of 1,000 popular games on Steam, identifying 315 games that communicate temporal aspects in their marketing. Using descriptive statistics and thematic analysis, six themes were identified that communicate temporal aspects ranging from explicit play durations to temporal investment, legacy, and nostalgia. This study offers empirical evidence on how time-centric language can be better used by developers to communicate explicit temporal aspects over vague marketing hyperbole. This would align with historic media presentations of time-centric language and reduce player and caregiver anxieties about temporal investment. Comprehensive use of time-centric language in marketing can equip players to make more informed decisions regarding time scarcity and management.

ABSTRACT. Historical video games engage players in active processes of interpreting and shaping historical narratives, playing a crucial role in influencing cultural identities and perceptions of the past. This study focuses on Roblox as a platform for user-generated games depicting the Yugoslav past and its associated collective trauma. Through a mixed-methods approach, the research analyzes the production and reception of these games, examining visual elements in game environments and player discourse on associated Discord channels.

The study investigates how symbolic references to Yugoslav identity, historical sites, and war-related elements are represented in the games, alongside players' engagement with these narratives. Preliminary findings reveal a spectrum of representational approaches, from efforts at historical accuracy to ideologically-driven depictions. Discord discussions highlight diverse interpretations, ranging from genuine historical interest to nationalist rhetoric, illustrating how these games become dynamic spaces for negotiating collective memory and identity.

This research aims to develop a typology of historical mediation in Roblox games and explores their potential as tools for historical learning, sites of commemoration, and arenas for contested narratives. By analyzing the interplay of game design, visual symbolism, and player interaction, the study contributes to understanding how digital media shapes collective memory and historical understanding in the post-Yugoslav context.

ABSTRACT. How would someone become a game developer in a place when professional opportunities were volatile and, in many cases, rare? What practices and knowledges were/are deemed as valuable in these spaces, how have these practices shaped these professionals, their views about the games industries, and informed their future decisions related to, for instance, career and immigration? This work is informed by recent developments in (local) histories of videogames (Swalwell 2021; Pérez-Latorre and Navarro-Remesal 2021), by game production studies – especially works that examine professionalisation and the professional identities of gamesworkers (Wimmer and Sitnikova, 2012), and the constitution of local and transnational professional cultures (Park, 2021; Minassian and Laban, 2023) – and by decolonial approaches to the history of technology (Gómez-Cruz et al., 2023). I also rely here on works that critically examine the games industries and its global status (Keogh 2023), in order to foreground the importance that so-called ‘minor’ or ‘peripheric’ spaces and actors have in shaping what we understand as videogames cultures, including here cultures of production (Švelch, 2021). Here, I focus specifically on 2000s Brazil. My interest in this context is not only related to my own personal experience – as someone who worked as a game developer at that time and place – but also in mapping a specific moment, combining economic optimism in the Latin American Southern Cone region (Biancarelli, 2014; Bull, 2013), and the absence of more established routes towards professionalisation in game development, such as the limited numbers of higher education degrees specifically dedicated for videogames/game production. More specifically, I work with a particular case study: the stories of Tectoy Digital and its sibling studios, Tectoy Studios and Zeebo Interactive Studios (all defunct, mid-sized Brazilian game studios) workers. Tectoy Digital was, during the 2000s first decade, a game development branch of Tectoy, the reasonably well-known local SEGA partner in Brazil during the 1990s-2000s (Martins 2021), where staff combined work in original projects (e.g., games for mobile devices and for the Zeebo console) and portings of well-known companies for J2ME platforms. Through data generated through a survey, supplemented by biographical interviews with selected participants, I discuss how these work-related moves not only offer a relevant snapshot of the local game production culture at a particular space and time (i.e., 2000s Brazil), but also on how certain practices and knowledges stemming from that particular time and space have potential to influence other local (game) development cultures, creating therefore hybrid development cultures - a similar phenomenon to what has been anecdotally noticed in the Netherlands, after the influx of Brazilian software developers in recent years (Pauline Vos [@vanamerongen] 2021). Such hybrid development cultures, I argue, are relevant because they challenge the commonsensical understanding of innovative flows as unidirectional, where the Global South is always at the receiving end of influences and innovation. With this work, my goal is to then propose a more nuanced way of conceptualising the complex transnational flows implicated in game development circuits (Sotamaa and Švelch 2021), rejecting simplistic models that see Global South contexts as always catching-up in relation to mainstream game development places in the Global North, as well as providing a relevant reflection on the role played by local game development cultures in shaping this global form. Preliminary results indicate, for example, how precariousness and the specific conditions in place often led to the formation of professionals that are versatile and that often experienced a more generalist trajectory, only finding specialization later throughout their careers, and how the incipience of game development in a space like Brazil often made professionals to take challenging career decisions, such as changing sectors/careers or countries. Such insights, I argue, are relevant for considering the different realities about (trying to) professionally making games around the world (Keogh, 2023), especially in places in which material conditions might not be as favorable as in mainstream contexts, such as North America, Western Europe or East Asia.

ABSTRACT. No country has contributed more to the global development of videogames than Japan. The nation has inexorably shaped the landscape through innovations in the arcade, at home, and on mobile platforms. To address these challenges, Pennington and Newman, researchers at Bath Spa University – with co-funding from the Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation – undertook research in July 2024 to highlight and document the work of Japanese indie game developers, exploring how these overlooked developers are planning to preserve their legacies and materials. This talk represents an invaluable opportunity to disseminate these fascinating research findings to the DiGRA audience.

ABSTRACT. The presentation aims to analyze the ways in which PlayMe Studio’s mobile dating simulator, MeChat (2021), engages with popular tropes and narrative structures of contemporary romance fiction, and how it utilizes them to encourage the player to perform loving behavior according to the popular patterns of romance, and in order to do so—purchase and spend in-game currency. MeChat is a free-to-play, online mobile game, which combines the premise of a story-based dating simulator with the design reminiscent of popular dating apps—the player can scroll through a selection of fictional characters, “match” and chat with them through an in-app communicator. The chats include text and voice messages, cartoonish “photos,” and “dates,” which depict in-person encounters. The variety of characters that MeChat offers is impressive—the game includes over 200 storylines available to play. The stories draw heavily on the tropes and themes of contemporary romance fiction, with the characters representing a multitude of popular sub-genres (romantic comedies, BDSM erotica, mafia- and monster romances), and with storylines following both specific conflicts characteristic of these sub-categories and the general pacing structure of romance (i.e. gradual build-up of romantic tension based on the characters proving their affection in regular intervals). Importantly, MeChat incorporates choices within these storylines. Often, during either the texting or dating portion of the game, several reaction options will show up on screen to be selected by the player—most of them, however, have no impact on how the story unfolds, and only some impact how the scene plays out. The latter happens when one of the choices is a premium one, which the player has to purchase using in-game currency. These choices usually allow for the development of the scene at hand—often involving sexual encounters, moments of affection, confessions, enacting high-stakes action by the main character, or simply learning otherwise unattainable details of the main plot. The satisfactory outcome in the narrative is further strengthened through procedural means, as selecting the premium options rises the relationship strength index.

This particular design choice of placing the satisfactory elements of a romantic narrative behind a paywall serves as a particularly interesting interpretative and critical case for academic consideration. On the one hand, as it uses the player’s emotional literacy and knowledge of romantic fiction to encourage affect, which simultaneously guides the player’s toward purchasing premium options, it an illustration of the link between players’ emotional experiences and consumer behavior (see: Chou and Wang 2017) and presents a case for the under-studies hedonic motivations for in-game purchases (Marder et. al. 2019). On the other, since it encourages the performance of loving behavior according to the patterns of romance, thus presenting love as based on a constant trial and satisfaction circle, MeChat’s showcases not only that games draw heavily from other types of romantic fiction (Grace 2020), but also that they can mediate ideas of what love is (Enevold and MacCallum-Stewart 2015; Enguix and Roca 2015). Moreover, by drawing a close link between the purchase option and romantic behavior, MeChat engages the basic principles of affective capitalism (Karppi et al. 2014) by both targeting the emotional capacities of the player and providing emotional satisfaction as a commodity (Illouz 2017, 7, 11-14). Interpreted through the lens of these theories, MeChat serves as an example of how games can utilize and reproduce principles of love as deeply entangled in capitalistic ideologies (see: Macfarlane 1995). By linking the abovementioned perspectives in a critical investigation of MeChat’s use of micro-transactions in choice-based romance stories, this presentation aims to shed light on the relationship between the economic and the romantic in PlayMe Studio’s game, and on the economies of love in games in general. As such, the presentation seeks to contribute to the sparse existing research on the commodification of the romantic aspects of play and the strategies of capitalizing on game love (Ganzon 2018). In addition, by focusing on the emotional implications of the relationship between the player and a game’s romantic narrative, it should offer an alternate, but complementary approach to the existing research on parasocial relationships with fictional characters in games (i.e. Blom 2023, 125-132; Elvery 2022).

ABSTRACT. In this paper, I will examine the visual novel Mediterranea Inferno (Eyeguys, 2023) as an example of a queer game whose narrative spans from the personal to the political. As game creator and artist Robert Yang stated in an interview with Bonnie Ruberg, “In order to represent a gay world, you need a gay body” (Ruberg 2020) — a challenge that Mediterranea Inferno more than rises to by unabashedly portraying queer male physicality on full display and making it the site of desire, trauma, and consciousness. How do the intersectional underpinnings such as sexuality, class, and belonging find their place in the game – how do they become, in fact, visible and playable? What kind of meanings and chains of associations does the game’s hallucinated and queering use of Catholic iconography evoke? And how does the player get to impersonate and embody the game’s protagonists with all their imperfections and pain? (see PDF for full extended abstract)

ABSTRACT. EXTENDED ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND The rise of gaming as a mainstream activity has transformed how people engage with digital entertainment and social interaction. In conjunction with gaming, participation in online gaming communities such as Twitch streams has become a common accompaniment to games. Gamers engage with content creators for a variety of reasons, including gameplay tips, for entertainment and to engage with other gamers (Yoganathan et al. 2021; King & de la Hera 2020). This popularity has attracted advertisers, with the use of games, esports and content creators now becoming a common part of the marketing strategies for major brands wanting to engage with younger audiences (Elasri-Ejjaberi et al. 2020). Despite the popularity of using gaming content creators for marketing, their potential to influence other areas, such as public health messaging, remains largely unexplored in research.

Health issues related to sedentary lifestyles and poor dietary habits have been a regular topic of debate within gaming cultures (Chan et al. 2022). Evidence links gaming to increased body mass index (BMI) and the consumption of energy-dense, nutrient-poor (EDNP) foods (Dindar & Akbulut 2014; Delfino et al. 2018). Sedentary lifestyles and poor dietary habits have been linked with chronic disease later in life. These health issues are of particular concern for teenagers and young adults, key demographics for gaming use, as they are at an age where they are still forming life-long habits related to their health (Arnett 2014). Understanding whether and how gaming communities contribute to these behaviours can provide valuable insights for public health.

Communities play a significant role in shaping individual behaviours, including dietary habits. Socio-ecological models of behaviour change highlight the layered influences of individual, local, community, and societal factors (Hovell et al. 2009). They posit that actors within these groups influence individual behaviour. (blinded for peer review) mapped socio-ecological factors potentially influencing emerging adult gamers’ dietary behaviours. The research underscored the importance of community-level interactions, such as content creators, online gaming communities and esports players as a conduit of information and influence within gaming communities. This framework informs the current research, which examines food-related discourse within gaming communities and its implications for behaviour.

A further study (blinded for peer review) focusing on Fortnite (Epic Games 2017) streaming communities revealed food discussions as a prevalent aspect of content creator-audience interactions. These included on-stream eating, sponsorship-driven food promotions, and food-related discussions, recommendations and advice. Apart from planned sponsorship content, the majority of conversations about food happened organically. Alarmingly, the study found that EDNP foods seemed culturally more accepted in these discussions than healthier options. These findings raised questions about whether such patterns are unique to Fortnite or common across other gaming communities.

This study: research aims and questions Building on prior research, this study investigates whether discussions of food and drink are commonplace in communities centered on other popular esports titles, including DOTA 2 (Valve 2013), Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (Valve 2012), Rocket League (Epic Games 2015), PUBG: Battlegrounds (Krafton 2017), and Call of Duty (Activision Blizzard 2003).

The study seeks to answer: • RQ1: How are online game streaming communities engaged in conversations about food and drink? • RQ2: Do online game streaming communities based on different esports titles engage differently in conversations about food and drink?

The study will seek to understand whether food discussions are unique to Fortnite communities, and if they are more commonplace, what similarities and differences exist between gaming communities.

METHODS This study uses netnography, a methodology adapted from ethnography to explore virtual communities (Kozinets 2002; 2012). Following Kozinets’ five-step process, the research involves: 1. Defining research questions, sites, and topics. 2. Identifying and selecting relevant gaming communities. 3. Observing and collecting data ethically. 4. Analyzing data iteratively through thematic analysis. 5. Reporting findings and implications.

The study observes the video streams of three prominent streamers from each of the five esports titles. Streamers will be selected based on their audience size and a diversity of gender and age representation. Only streams in English will be observed. Data collection focuses on observation notes related to food-related conversations by the streamer, conversations in text chats, visible on-stream eating and other references to food and drink including any sponsor messages. A thematic analysis, informed by a coding framework from prior research will identify patterns, as well as differences between communities.

Expected contribution and presentation

This research will present initial findings at DiGRA 2025, offering insights into the cultural dimensions of food-related discussions within diverse esports communities. By exploring the intersections of gaming and health, the study contributes to a broader understanding of how digital communities influence behaviours beyond gaming. The findings of this study will have implications for how gaming researchers consider the community and health impact of gaming communities, and support public health researchers to understand how to play within the gaming crossroads.

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ABSTRACT. This extended abstract presents a comparative analysis of food and drink as it is presented in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (CD Projekt RED 2015) and Genshin Impact (Hoyoverse 2020)

ABSTRACT. This extended abstract contributes to the growing sub-fields of Game Food Studies (Westerlaken, 2017; Stang, 2021; Waszkiewicz, 2022) and Eco/Green Game Studies (Tyler, 2022; Chang, 2019), building on Waszkiewicz’s landmark food game survey text. In doing so it pushes towards implementing Annemarie Mol’s approach of phenomenological analysis ‘as’ and ‘from’ the position of eating in Eating in Theory (2021) for what it can reveal not only about eating in games and how games move us (Isbister, 2016) but also how games move ‘through’ us. Employing phenomenological and affect theory driven analysis (Keogh, 2018; Anable, 2018) alongside close textual reading of Bugsnax (Young Horses, 2020) as its case study, I aim to complicate Calleja’s model of incorporation with a game that takes ‘incorporation’ as its literal object. A comedic body-horror game set on an exotic fictional island and based around the sourcing and feeding of hybridized bugs/snacks to NPCs, its players play with an exaggerated model of how food becomes the body by recomposing limbs as foodstuffs: a captured Charmallo bugsnack might turn a nose into a marshmallow; a Cinnasnail can coil a leg into a pastry. Here I argue the game enacts a critique of traditional ideas of corporeality, and complicates the conventional role of the player as dominant consumer of the environment in sympathy with Mol’s critique of traditional white-hetero-patriarchal models of the body in phenomenology as a unitary, unchanging subject moving through the world (Merleau-Ponty, 1958; Ingold, 2010). As she argues, eating is the, often elided, messy precondition of relating to the world and demands we attend to how the world moves through us (Mol, 2021).

ABSTRACT. On 5th August 2024, the prime minister of Bangladesh fled the country after ruling uninterrupted from 2009 after the country’s populace demonstrated against her regime and forced her resignation. Students formed a significant force in this movement and were, during the protests, subjected to massive crackdowns and violence by the armed forces. Despite the shutting down of the Internet, social media was a significant agency behind the viral spread of the protests; many protestors, quite uniquely for the region, chose videogames as their language of communicating about their protests. While in recent times, videogame environments have become a popular medium for gamers to demonstrate political resistance and several scholars (Richardson et al. 2021; Davies 2023; Bashandy 2023) have examined the efficacy of videogaming platforms as sites for democratic processes such as that of protest and advocacy for a radical transformation of governance practices, there has been little research on how videogames feature in protests in the Global South.

Regardless of their popularity, gaming platforms, especially in their design, have been put to question for the impact they have on protesters and the sentiment of resistance as such (Bashandy 2022). For a platform that operates on ludic practices, it is often considered surprising that the notion of play and playing being employed for serious political action but the affordances of playing and gaming for “serious” outcomes such as the Serious Games initiatives the world over such as ‘Games for Change’ (https://www.gamesforchange.org/) must not be overlooked. In such a context, could social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram be understood with the lens of playful resistance? Also, why and how do people posting on these platforms deploy videogames as their vocabulary of expressing protest? For example, in one meme in the Facebook group ‘Gamers of Bangladesh’, Sheikh Hasina is compared to the key game boss in the Red Dead Redemption series, Dutch van der Linde while in another the students from different universities are portrayed as different members of the Call of Duty: Black Ops team. It must be noted here that Bangladesh, as a Global South nation, has many gamers who struggle to get the computer specs for playing the latest games, but it is one where the projected revenue from gaming hardware is seen as rising. Poised in such a scenario, the way in which Bangladeshis have taken to videogame representations for political protest is both unique and intriguing.

Research in the last decade into protests on social media has been plentiful. There is no dearth of studies that explore political mobilisation on social media platforms, and by now, social media has become mainstreamed as a site for demonstrating resistance and as a public sphere for general political deliberations and democratic practices. Booming largely since the 2011 Facebook revolution against the Egyptian state, social media platforms have been used in creative ways by general users as well as politicians and campaigners. Likewise, recently, the Bangladesh protest movements against the state government, led chiefly by college students and the Bangladeshi youth, has left a resounding reverberation throughout the world, as such that its success and impact on the political atmosphere has become historically noteworthy. Samata Biswas, writing about the use of social media to further the agenda of protest states:

In another instance, Facebook user and influencer RJ Ridoy juxtaposed the names of young men slain in the 1952 language movement (Rafiq, Salam, Barkat, Shafiur, Jabbar—commemorated in numerous songs on both sides of Bengal), with those of students killed in 2024 (Syed, Asif, Rafi, Wasim, Adnan), alongside a black and white collage of their photos. The timeline describes the youth of today as direct descendants of those killed more than 70 years ago, engendering a new narrative of nationalism. (Biswas 2024)

Following Biswas’s argument, one wonders what to make of the numerous videogame memes, videos and game-related messages that have been used on a number of social media platforms to describe the Bangladeshi protests, particularly those by the student community.

The worlds of social media and videogames have been starkly contrasted by some commentators. Jhee and Wu (2023) have described categorically how they are different, with distinct nuances that give different meanings to communication within these platforms. They show that social media platforms and their affordances are designed for all kinds of communication, with archival features that offer continuity for users who connect, while gameworlds, despite having messaging features, are built chiefly for gaming, with affordances that offer continuity for gameplay but seldom to archive communicative histories of players who connect with other players. In contrast, Cirucci (2014) maintains that social media must be examined from a video-game perspective. Her study draws upon Goffman’s dramaturgy to compare how the self of the players and social media users interact with the internet society at large, emphasizing that the experiences of videogame players and those of social media users have both differences as well as similarities.

Building from Cirucci’s work, our research argues that social media protests and the user practices necessary to build large-scale resistance movements with substantial political impact employ ludic tendencies. Referring to conceptions of ‘ludification’ where ‘play is not only characteristic of leisure, but also turns up in those domains that once were considered the opposite of play’ (Raessens 2014) and where ‘everyday practices and various life domains are processed through the mechanics of games and logics of play’ (Davies 2020), this paper uses the Bangladesh student protests on social media as a case in point to assert that social media platforms are founded upon ludic designs, which engage the users in a gameful experience when the objective is to garner popularity and establish public presence. In doing so, employing techniques of netnography and related methods, it also sheds light on the particularities with which this ludicity is manifest in Global South contexts especially when political messages emanate through very ludic terms framed within the context of the protestors’ gaming experience.

ABSTRACT. This paper explores the phenomenon of gamer activism, focusing on the motivations behind online and offline protests against game corporations (e.g., review bombing, boycotting, crowdfunding, truck protesting), which are reshaping game industry practices and regulations in South Korea. Based on semi-structured interviews with those actively involved in Korean gamer protests from 2021 to 2023, the research identified anger towards game corporations over the fluctuating value of virtual capital as a motivational driver to collective actions. Furthermore, the constructed identity of Gamer-Consumers was identified. Gamer-Consumers perceive financial and time investments as integral to the game experience while evaluating their legitimacy as “real consumers” as “real gamers”. This fosters divisions and discrimination towards casual players and gender minorities while encouraging game corporations to operate in favor of heavy-spending players. Therefore, while gamer activism plays a critical role in reporting game companies’ malpractices, it also raises the concern of polarizing gamer discourse and commodified relationships in gaming culture.

ABSTRACT. This article explores how intentional failure in Genshin Impact functions as comedic resistance to the game’s meritocratic culture. Genshin Impact promotes a meritocratic system through its mechanics, rewarding players based on skill, time, and labor investment. Through ethnographic research in Chinese player communities, this study examines how players disrupt this meritocratic culture by deliberately failing in exaggerated and humorous ways. Intentional failure transforms Genshin Impact into a site of cultural critique and collective resistance. By embracing comedy and humor, players challenge the game’s emphasis on productivity and skill, creating a carnivalesque space in which norms and hierarchies are inverted. This disruption allows players to reclaim the essence of play, emphasizing creativity, community, and liberation over competition. The findings contribute to broader discussions on the politics of play, highlighting the potential for digital games to become spaces of subversion and critique, rather than mere tools for control and productivity.

ABSTRACT. This article aims to construct a comparison between exploration immersive theatre - analysed through the work of the British theatre company Punchdrunk - and the video game genre of walking simulators. This comparison is rooted in strong similarities between the two media forms, namely the use of the environment as the main site of storytelling and the exploratory agency afforded to the audience. The narrative use of the environment is discussed through the concept of environmental storytelling, identifying in that regard two different design strategies employed in both walking simulators and exploration immersive theatre. On one hand, environmental storytelling can rely on cause-and-effect relationships, turning the player/audience into a detective, while on the other hand environmental storytelling can be used to construct an atmospheric narrative, experienced affectively and aesthetically by the wandering player/audience.

ABSTRACT. This extended abstract explores the concept of otium and discusses its applicability to the kinds of experiences that videogames afford their players, focusing particularly on the experiences afforded by so-called walking simulators.

ABSTRACT. This paper examines how constrained narrative systems can cultivate ethical and creative player expression, focusing on the puzzle game Storyteller (2023).  Through modular prompts and combinatorial constraints, Storyteller invites players to compose meaning within tightly bounded structures. Drawing on cybernetics theory, the study analyzes how feedback loops and systemic surprises facilitate recursive learning and ethical reflection. Using intertextual analysis of selected chapters and external player-generated content, the paper identifies patterns of self-limitation and expressive deviation that reconfigure the game’s intended narrative logic. It proposes a layered model of narrative interaction in which players operate simultaneously as problem-solvers and ethical agents. Beyond contributing to theoretical discourse on player agency and modular design, this research also offers actionable insights for narrative designers and indie developers, showing how minimalist mechanics can still inspire value-driven play and meaningful systemic engagement.

ABSTRACT. This paper will examine the industrial contexts, textual characteristics, critical reaction, and player culture of three entries in the The Last of Us franchise - The Last of Us Remastered (2014), The Last of Us Part I (2022), and The Last of Us Part II Remastered (2024), in an effort to analyse the nature of remastering and remaking in videogames in general and how these particular entries contribute to the TLoU franchise by creating ‘definitive versions’ of the original games.

ABSTRACT. Trophies and achievements, which usually appear during gameplay as notifications, can be seen as “paratexts”, thus providing authorial commentary on video games, and new versions of games (remasters and remakes) can be conceived as “palimpsests”, as “having been reused or altered while still retaining traces of its earlier form” (Oxford English Dictionary, 2024). Since a studio must include trophies when they release a game today, these can attest to the palimpsestic relationship between a game and its previous version(s). In this context, achievements are observed through iterations of the same game. We argue that various forms and degrees of authorial commentary on the palimpsestic nature of the later iterations of games arise through their achievements.

ABSTRACT. This paper examines fan-made game remasters as an alternative to industry-produced remakes, exploring their role in preserving game history, offering alternatives to official releases, and experimenting with new technologies. Drawing on nostalgia, platform studies, prosumption and cognitive capitalism, it aims to incorporate the under-researched role of game mods as a form of game remastering. It highlights how fan modifications enhance outdated games by updating graphics, improving compatibility and addressing industry neglect. The paper will also critically examine how these initiatives can inadvertently impose modern interpretations on older games, divorcing them from their original artistic and temporal contexts.

ABSTRACT. This research aims to illustrate how open-world designs vary across genres and how open-world models influence genre conventions. By examining these differences, we can better understand how open-world design shapes player experiences, narrative possibilities, and gameplay strategies.

ABSTRACT. Despite the latest wave of consumer VR helmets being almost a decade old, the technology continues to be overlooked in game studies. Our paper addresses this omission by providing a preliminary classification of VR games. The question we want to answer is: What genres exist in VR and are any of these genres VR specific?

ABSTRACT. This study presents a novel and systematic framework to integrating Large Language Models (LLMs) into video game design by reconceptualizing the inherent characteristic phenomenon of "hallucinations"—instances where LLMs generate plausible yet inaccurate or fictitious content—as intrinsic game features. Instead of treating hallucinations as errors, we adapt them to enrich narrative complexity and enhance player experience. We introduce two key design strategies: 1) controlling narrative boundaries to limit the disruptive impact of hallucinations and 2) establishing an irrational worldview, which seamlessly incorporates these stochasticities into the game mechanism. We demonstrate these strategies through case studies of three diverse LLM-driven games across different genres. Our work contributes to the game studies community by offering innovative design paradigms that position LLMs as core interactive mechanisms, while considering their unique generative capabilities and implications for game design and research.

ABSTRACT. This paper investigates the covert adoption of generative AI technologies in China’s video game industry, where practitioners frequently use such tools in content creation while remaining publicly silent about their use. Through qualitative research combining in-depth interviews with industry professionals and review of policy documents, this study explores the tensions between technological efficiency, artistic authenticity, and the material conditions. Findings reveal that AIGC technologies have permeated most stages of game-making, from initial planning and production to distribution. Individual creators across different roles and company sizes exhibit ambivalent attitudes shaped by both institutional pressures and personal aspirations.

ABSTRACT. Chatbots are being integrated into a multitude of settings and services, ranging from representing historical figures in museums to customer service assistants in online retail. Simultaneously as there are attempts to find interesting use cases for the technology, scholarly efforts are trying to characterize this emerging human-chatbot interaction. In this paper, we argue that game studies has much to offer in this endeavor, and that by applying play – and roleplay, in particular – as a perspective we may develop critical insights into how people make sense of and use chatbots. Drawing on an ethnographic study of the chatbot platform character.ai, the paper explores how chatbots are used for roleplaying purposes and how game studies-informed understanding of interactivity and engagement helps us grasp how and why people use chatbots in various contexts.

ABSTRACT. The paper concerns a specific type of participatory engagement (Jenkins 2008, Fuchs 2014, Hellekson and Busse 2006), prosumption (Beer and Burrows 2010, Hofman-Kohlmeyer 2020) or meaning-making activity (Burwell 2017) that stems from the interaction with video games that act as open culture (Salen and Zimmerman 2004), namely the production of fan YouTube videos (Karpovich 2007) that feature musicians playing acoustic covers of video games original soundtracks (OST). As the number of covers uploaded on YouTube can prove, some OST are more frequently and eagerly chosen by fans to record their own versions of the compositions. This could be related to the number of people who represent specific fandoms, as well as to the popularity of the games or their developers. For example, OST from The Legend of Zelda and Super Mario series by Nintendo are often covered by fans, as are tracks from other Nintendo series, such as Pokemon. In this case, since 1986 the studio has established a stable leading position on the US market (Collins 2008, 24), which definitely contributes to high visibility and cultural impact of Nintendo games worldwide. A fan trend that emerged around 2015 involves performing video game music arranged for a consort of recorders, that is the soprano, alto, tenor, and bass recorders which correspond in naming and function to the vocal ranges of singers in a choir (Socha 1993, 5). The consort can be further enriched with larger or smaller members of the recorder family, such as the sopranino and contrabass recorders. Used to perform a small number of simultaneous parts, recorder quartets that consist of instruments with a homogeneous sound, are particularly well-suited to reproducing the 8-bit OST of older games. The modest nature of these OST was shaped by the limited processing power of the late 1970s and early 1980s processors, including the small number of available sound channels and the timbres of the sound generators (Donnelly et al. 2014, 153). As it turns out, a recorder consort is a perfect acoustic means to emulate classic OST. Applying an interdisciplinary approach that combines musicology, fan studies, and game studies, we want to present the analysis of music videos uploaded on the InstrumentManiac YouTube channel that contain the covers of Pokemon compositions. We find it interesting to observe how OST, being a part of digitally-mediated interactive game systems, are reconstructed as covers (Wolański 2000, 68; Griffiths 2002) played with the help of traditional acoustic instruments such as recorders. In this case, changing the medium entails significant modifications as the performer needs to recreate the score (using either the OST or MIDI files, as original scores are usually unavailable) and adjust it to a different technology, that is the affordances of the particular instrumentarium they decide to use. The materiality of the instrument and the skill of the musician directs the interpretation of the source material that results in a new arrangement. This materiality also entails a different type of embodied experience (Corness 2008, Clayton and Leante 2013, Cox 2016, DeChaine 2002, Finnegan 2012, Juntunen 2017, McGuiness and Overy 2011, Shapiro, Lawrence A., and Shannon Spaulding 2024, van der Schyff 2013) as the performer is physically engaged in the production of music. As follows, it could be assumed that fan appropriation of OST seems to be connected with the identity of the performer as an active audience member (Consalvo 2003) and a musician (Bennett 2001) who proves to be able to reconstruct and perform a particular score. The new arrangement is a challenge that the musician has been able to accomplish. The resulting text – in this case a video posted on YouTube platform – becomes a de-centered paratext (Consalvo 2017) that may be read as a testimony of the game reception or a player produced text (Newman 2005) and constitutes a form of artistic expression within the game culture.

ABSTRACT. Since their inception, music and sound in digital games have predominantly played supportive roles, with game states and events typically triggering the playback of sounds or changes in the music. This survey shifts the perspective to games where this relationship is reversed: music and sound are at the forefront, driving interactions and shaping the flow of gameplay. These sound-first games are significantly less common than their traditional counterparts and span a narrower range of gameplay styles and genres. Most often, they fall under the category of music and rhythm games that focus on performing timed actions synchronized with music. Beyond this genre, only a small number of platformers, shooters, and RPGs have adopted a sound-led paradigm, while a few music-making and educational applications feature playful approaches, placing them in a space that blurs the boundaries between games and music production tools. In this survey we address the lack of current categorizations for sound-first games by identifying examples and classifying them by genre, form of audio interaction, and style of control. It also identifies areas for future growth, including the development of richer sound-based mechanics, the fuller integration of spatial audio as a core gameplay element, and the exploration of more nuanced listening modes that extend beyond simple sound triggers.

ABSTRACT. As it may be observed, the Gregorian sequence Dies Irae is present in the soundtrack throughout the Heroes of Might and Magic series and may be analyzed in such fields as theory of adaptation, transmediation, music criticism and continuity of cultural memory. In the Heroes of Might and Magic series, the Dies Irae theme will be heard in a version based on the most primal melody. Firstly, the motif appeared in the third issue of the series, in Necropolis fraction from 1999, then in the main menu of the fifth release of the series, in a choral and orchestral performance. Also, the Lacrimosa stanza from the sequence has been adapted and accompanies the player in Haven city. Over the centuries, the motif appeared as part of Requiem, the music for the funeral Masses, written by such composers as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart around 1791 and Giuseppe Verdi in 1874. The motif of Dies Irae from the Heroes of Might and Magic series has an artistic value due to the variety of the instruments and harmonization of voices, which was definitely noticed by musicians who perform soundtracks from this series.

ABSTRACT. Analogue and digital games collide in Inscryption (Daniel Mullins Games 2021), creating a hauntingly immersive experience that blurs the lines between reality and fiction. This paper examines Inscryption through the lens of remediation theory, exploring how its design utilises immediacy and hypermediacy to evoke a compelling hybrid of analogue and digital gaming experiences. By blending skeuomorphic design with metafictional narrative elements, Inscryption crafts a uniquely unsettling and immersive player experience. This analysis focuses on the game’s ability to remediate analogue card games into a digital horror context, leveraging design elements and layered narrative structures to evoke both nostalgia and unease. We argue that Inscryption exemplifies the potential of digital games to innovate at the intersection of media forms, challenging conventional notions of player interaction. We offer insights into the evolving dynamics of analogue-digital convergence and its implications for the future of game studies.

ABSTRACT. Xiuxian (修仙) or cultivation games is a rapidly emerging genre in the Chinese gaming market, which simulate the journey of spiritual practitioners seeking immortality through practicing a set of martial and mystical arts (Qiang & Hao, 2023). Drawing on Yuk Hui’s concept of “cosmotechnics” (2017; 2021), which examines how different cultures integrate cosmic and moral orders through technical activities, this research looks at the lineage from wuxia to cultivation games and investigates how cultivation games translate traditional Daoist spiritual practices and epistemological frameworks into digital game experiences.

ABSTRACT. Represented by the original videos of the Youtube channel called "GlassBeetles" in 2012, dreamcore emerged as a surrealist aesthetic in a wide range of media forms such as moving images, music, and video games. Dreamcore becomes a convergent style that combines the elements of media nostalgia and weird fetishism. It is regarded as a new subculture that uses familiar scenes to make the audience nostalgic but uneasy, with two important characteristics: “lost items” and “exposed shame” (Wu, 2022). In terms of visual-audio language, it embraces the collage form in surrealist artworks that feature the defamiliarization of the banal and the dynamic relations between part bodies and totalities (Adamowicz, 1998). In essence, it inherited the legacy of surrealism that does not only include the exploration of dreams but also the unconscious desires and complex emotions of human beings (Song & Choi, 2023). In the field of game studies, dreamcore tends to be a genre label of horror games, featuring liminal spaces, analog visuality, and the y2k trend. It celebrates a lost past that looks different today, constructing a parallel universe of the uncanny. The notion of defamiliarization turns out to be vital again, being an effective tool for political activation that relies on formal innovation rather than superficial emotional engagement (Godioli & Bayraktar, 2024). Therefore, with the artistic tools of defamiliarization, dreamcore video games have become the crossroads of media nostalgia and collective memories. They can represent contemporary historical periods and events in a playable form (Whalen & Taylor, 2008). Meanwhile, the motif of nostalgia comes from the collective memories that are distinct in different cultural backgrounds. These might lead to a unique world view and play mechanism in videogame designs. This paper will discuss the dreamcore cultural scene in China, examining its potential impacts on contemporary Chinese video games. Regarding other related concepts like weirdcore, nostalgacore, old web, traumacore, vaporwave, and retro-futurism, the research places dreamcore along with a series of family resemblances, focusing on their inner connections with Chinese history and the medium specificity between the late 1990s and early 2000s. In a broad sense, the collective memories concerning media relate to the context of China’s intense market economic reform from the early 1990s onwards and a hopeful historical vision for the future (Gu, 2023). Through a detailed analysis of recently released titles Nobody (Wuren, 2024) and Wrap (Shaqing, 2024), I will scrutinize these works from three aspects: the entity of liminal space, the reference of analog horror style, and the materiality of the millennium year fetishism. I argue that the form of liminal space corresponds to the building structure of The Family Housing Facilities in 1990s China. The construction of backrooms and liminal spaces reveals a digital chronotope alongside the frameworks of video games, nostalgia, postmodern thought, and the vaporwave art/music aesthetic (Wiggins, 2024). Influenced by the frequent use of liminal spaces in game design, Chinese videogame makers adopt the structurally similar resources of the Chinese nostalgic buildings with repetitive sceneries. Moreover, the notion of analog horror, being an offshoot of the found footage film genre and horror subgenre prevailing in Internet participatory culture, constantly calls back to the heterogeneous media history of late 1990s and early 2000s China. In the dreamcore video games, the blurred found footage of Chinese TV programs and dramas symbolizes a hauntology bridge between today and yesterday, featuring a playable escapism to the good old times. Finally, the technical objects of the past, such as old televisions, old desktop computers, and DVD tapes, these things per se rebuild a lost world of China at the beginning of the 21st century. Compared with video games literally about history themes (Li, 2021), the private memories embedded in the gameplay mechanism prove a better understanding of everyday history. In addition, the self-reference of Chinese retro video games in these works allows the video game medium itself to be a time machine to the past (Wulf, N. D., Velez, & Breuer, 2018). In general, the Chinese dreamcore video games combine the media history and medium specificity, creating a sentimental world in the post-pandemic age where relatively contemporary microcultural trends successfully take the pulse (Papuc, 2022).

REFERENCES Adamowicz, E. 1998. Surrealist collage in text and image: Dissecting the exquisite corpse (Vol. 56). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Godioli, A., & Bayraktar, N. 2024. E(n)stranged: Rethinking Defamiliarization in Literature and Visual Culture. Cham: Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-60859-9 Gu, Z. 2023. Screen Media and the Construction of Nostalgia in Post-Socialist China (1st ed. 2023.). Singapore: Palgrave Macmillan. Li, N. 2021. “Playing the past: Historical video games as participatory public history in China.” Convergence (London, England), 27(3), 746–767. https://doi.org/10.1177/1354856520967606 Papuc, O. T. 2022. “Exploring Liminal Aesthetics: The ‘Glitchy and Decayed’ Worlds of Vaporwave, Semiotic Assemblages, and Internet Linguistics.” Studia Universitatis Babes-Bolyai-Philologia, 67(4), 165-186. Song, J. Y., & Choi, W. H. 2023. “A Study on the Inheritance of Dreamcore Art and Surrealism.” 한국콘텐츠학회 ICCC 논문집, 73-74. Whalen, Z., & Taylor, L. N. 2008. Playing the past: history and nostalgia in video games. Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press. Wiggins, B. E. 2024. “The backrooms and liminal spaces: Explorations of a digital urban legend.” New Media & Society. https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448241238395 Wu, H. 2022. “Lost items and exposed shame–dreamcore’s inheritance and transcendence of liminal space and defamiliarization.” Journal for Cultural Research, 26(2), 153-165. Wulf, T., Bowman, N. D., Rieger, D., Velez, J. A., & Breuer, J. 2018. “Video games as time machines: Video game nostalgia and the success of retro gaming.” Media and Communication, (2), 60-68.

ABSTRACT. The writing of video game history remains constrained by two major challenges: first, the game history of the United States and Japan continues to dominate the global narrative and understanding of video games histories; second, with few exceptions, there is still a lack of social and cultural histories of video games—let alone using games as a lens to contribute to the study of mainstream contemporary social and cultural history. Therefore, there remains an urgent need for more game histories from peripheral regions and cultures, particularly those capable of offering insights into significant contemporary issues in these countries and regions. China, by scale of its industry and user base, has long been a crucial part of the global video game landscape. Yet, it is striking that in the field of game studies, Chinese game history and Chinese game culture remain largely absent. With the phenomenal success of Black Myth: Wukong, Chinese video game history has reached a crossroads: the model of commercial success for buy-to-play games has once again become feasible thanks to the quality of its works. This makes it all the more necessary to look back at the other end of this crossroads—when China gradually lost its single-player game industry, instead developing a massive market centered on online and casual games, many of which verge on gambling. We propose that the year 2001 marks such a crossroad point. It was not only a crossroad point for China’s game industry and game culture but also for its political economy, social fabric, and cultural landscape. Marked by China’s accession to the WTO, the turn of the millennium was a critical moment in China’s political and economic reforms. Additionally, the country’s electronic information industry recovered from the dot-com bubble burst around 2001, largely thanks to the rise of online games. On one hand, the transformation of China’s gaming industry and culture occurred alongside the country’s systemic reforms; on the other hand, the trajectory of the video game industry profoundly shaped the development of China’s electronic information sector, thereby influencing the broader social digital transformation. In this paper, we first explore the trends and characteristics of China’s political reforms since the reform and opening-up era, focusing on recent research trends that emphasize how reform was driven by openness: globalization pressures led to reform as a response. Secondly, we examine the rapid increase in computer and internet penetration in China around the turn of the millennium, illustrating how globalization impacted the market penetration of China’s electronic information industry. We will specifically address the class and cultural capital privileges of early Chinese video game players, a key focus in recent studies. Thirdly, we analyze the rise of early successful online gaming companies, examining how many of them emerged from real estate and health supplement industries, and how their marketing strategies were transplanted when they entered the gaming industry. Here, we respond to the "discontinuity thesis" in Chinese game studies, which highlights the cultural and professional disconnect within the industry. Fourthly, we discuss how the rise of online gaming restored confidence in the internet industry, serving as a critical driver for its recovery from the dot-com bubble, while also shaping the ecosystem of China’s internet industry. In doing so, we address the gamification of society that mainly originated in China’s internet industry, a growing issue with broader implications. Finally, we conclude by using the example of China’s game industry around 2001 to explore how globalization forced “peripheral” regions or countries to accelerate the marketization process, particularly driving market penetration into lower-tier markets. While this process brought a certain democratization of consumption and even democratization of culture, it also enabled companies adept at exploiting consumer weaknesses to thrive. In a highly capitalized environment, these successful companies often replicate their models across related sectors, spreading ecological deterioration. The years around 2001 was not only a crossroads in China’s political and economic reforms but also a pivotal moment in the global march of globalization—the last golden age before the waves of deglobalization accelerate. Revisiting this period helps us not only better understand the history of Chinese video games but also participate in a broader critique of the myths of globalization and its darker facets.

ABSTRACT. In post-socialist, neoliberal China's rapidly expanding video game industry, small and mid- sized developers are crafting sophisticated strategies to survive and thrive between strict government regulations and industry monopolies. While existing literature has examined the formal impact of institutions and major companies in China's gaming industry (Jiang et al. 2019; Chen et al. 2024; Cao et al. 2008), significant gaps remain in understanding these smaller developers’ informal practices in gray areas within the architecture of established neo-capitalist corporations and authoritarian state power. At a time when the global games industry stands at a crossroads marked by growing precarity, economic uncertainty, and regulatory challenges, understanding these practices offers helpful insights into gaming industry’s future. Drawing upon scholarship across game studies, political economy, and cultural studies, this research examines the unexplored dynamics through three perspectives: regional game studies(Penix-Tadsen 2018; Martin 2016; Jiang et al. 2019), growing attention to informal economies (Lobato et al. 2015), and materiality (Nicoll et al. 2019; Whitson et al. 2018). Building on my five years of industry experience and game making practices, I also use a ethnographic approach, combining participant observation and in-depth interviews with developers. This comprehensive methodology allows me to capture the hidden dynamics and unspoken conventions in the ambiguous industrial space. The research context is characterized by multiple structural challenges. Internally, corporations like Tencent and NetEase dominate market resources and distribution channels in Chinese video game industry (Wang 2022, 440–42). Government authorities also heavily intervene through content censorship and licensing control with ambiguous standards (Feng et al. 2023; Zhang 2012). At a broader infrastructural level, national digital governance frameworks like the Great Firewall Project (Griffiths 2019, 5–6)restrict developers' access to essential development tools and global resources as well. Under these structural challenges, small and middle-sized video game developers in China have to take a series of informal strategies across different stages of game production (see diagram 1). During development, they create technical workarounds like VPNs to access blocked development tools and resources, including game engines (Unreal Engine), prefabricated asset stores (Unity Store), and global developer communities and data management platforms (Stack Overflow, GitHub). In the publishing phase, many bypass domestic licensing requirements by releasing games through international platforms like Steam. In daily operations, informal employment and financial practices are common, such as using dual-contract arrangements and alternative payment methods to maintain flexibility and reduce costs. Technically operating in grey areas, these informal practices create a resilient network that transcends simple binary distinctions between legal and illegal, formal and informal. Various actors are involved in this network, including individual developers, underground distributors, publishing agency, pirated software and unauthorized online resource provider, international platforms, and even tacitly approving local authorities. They secretly connected together through both digital infrastructure and social ties. Therefore, what makes this system particularly distinctive is not just its informal nature, but rather how it interacts with and complements formal institutional structures. At the policy level, they participate in government-sponsored creative industry initiatives, securing limited funding and tax support from local bureaus and tech incubators. Special titles like Black Myth, The Scroll of Taiwu (ConchShip Games, 2018) and The Invisible Guardian (One Studio, 2019) can access expedited channels for obtaining game licenses. At the industry level, complex relationships with major companies are developed: while competing and hardly surviving under the shadow of giants, smaller developers also participate in their sponsored game jams, indie festivals, and publishing platforms. For instance, Tencent's "Game Without Borders (GWB)" project, WeGame platform, Next Studio project, and NetEase's series of investments to indie studios both aim to connect with smaller developers, integrating them into corporate ecosystems. Therefore, these paradoxical dynamic between informal practices and formal structures has developed a unique hybrid model of game production in China. By conceptualizing this model as "Mindie", this study examines how Chinese developers sustain creative practice through in/formal networks, strategic ambiguity, and institutional adaptation. Positioned within the ideological struggle between indie and mainstream development model in 2010, game designer Alistair Doolwind firstly coined the word “mindie” to seek a middle ground where independent developers could pursue both creative and profit, getting rid of the “starving artist” discourse(2010). Build on its middle-ground call, the "M" in my study captures more complex hybridity. Here, it signifies not just a combination between artistic and commercial interests as originally conceptualized, but a sophisticated negotiation across political, technological, economic, and cultural dimensions. These Chinese smaller developers managed and localized the “independence” that operates across three key dimensions: in cultural hybridity, maintaining certain creative autonomy while engaging with market demands; in institutional adaptation, they strategically cross between formal and informal spaces; and technical innovation, developing new material or technical toolkit to addressing infrastructural constraints. Most notably, these developers often adopt what might be called a "strategic ambiguity" in their positioning: presenting themselves as innovative tech startups to government bodies, independent studios to global audiences, and reliable content providers to major companies. This fluid identity allows them to access institutional support while preserving creative autonomy and economic sustainability. The success of Black Myth exemplifies how this strategic ambiguity operates in practice: while relying on both domestic investment from Tencent and foreign platforms (Unreal Engine for development and Steam for distribution), it is paradoxically celebrated domestically as both a hero challenging corporate monopolies and a national champion resisting foreign gaming dominance. This contradiction between practical reality and nationalist narrative is tacitly accepted and promoted by authorities who see gaming's potential for soft power. To sum up, by developing the word of “mindie” in Chinese context, this research aim to transcend conventional binaries of indie/mainstream and formal/informal. It reveals how seemingly opposing cultural, political, and economic forces actively reshape each other in China's digital cultural landscape. Accordingly, the key is a constantly evolving boundary— one that is continuously eroded, negotiated, overlapped, and co-constructed between the artificially defined formal/informal, professional/amateur, and global/local separation within the digital creative industries.

ABSTRACT. This paper examines the challenges and opportunities confronting Chinese boosters by examining the roles played by repetitive gameplay mechanics and industry-related factors in developing commercial boosting into a fast-growing market in China. “Boosting” is broadly construed as the process of understanding the rules of the game and finding means to reach the desired goals through cooperation and collusion (Meades 2015, 75). The form of boosting identified here refers to the act of lending a player’s (the boostee) account to a seasoned player (the booster, who gets paid), in order to accomplish time-consuming tasks or “boost” the account’s competitive ranking far more quickly than the original owner could achieve alone. Boosting―or “surrogate gaming” in this context―is rarely permitted by a game company’s terms of service as it constitutes cheating. The findings that undergird this paper’s arguments are derived from an analysis of three popular Chinese mobile games: Honor of Kings (Tencent Games, 2015), Onmyoji (NetEase Games, 2016), and Game for Peace (Tencent Games, 2019). The authors conducted semi-structured interviews with five boosters and four players. Additional sources for this paper entail observations of boosters on the video sharing platform Bilibili, comments gathered from Bilibili and Xiaohongshu, and boosting service ads collected from Taobao and Xianyu.

ABSTRACT. Board games have been relevant throughout history, as cultural artifacts with a significant role in shaping social imaginaries and providing a unique social experience. Because of this, their production is affected by the same symbolic discrimination that affects any human cultural production. This paper presents a gender perspective study of modern board games of international renown published in Spain, in Spanish language. The aim is to discern whether they constitute a cultural element that perpetuates sexist dynamics and stereotypes. Preliminary results show that, despite some recent advances, their production process is still far away from being a truly inclusive and egalitarian space.

ABSTRACT. This research project examines the representation of gender in Italian analogue games published between 2010 and 2024, with a particular focus on the roles of game designers and illustrators. A data-driven methodology will be employed to analyse credits sourced from BoardGameGeek and Italian publishers. The study aims to uncover temporal trends and genre-based disparities, offering insights into systemic gender imbalances. By situating the findings within broader global patterns, the research contributes to ongoing discussions on inclusivity and representation in creative and cultural industries.

ABSTRACT. In this paper, I will present my data on 120 player surveys, and 40 board game café owner surveys to analyse how in-person results differ from online surveys simply because they’re sampling a different type of board game player. Based on these results, I posit that gender demographics in board game interest is not inherently male-oriented, but rather becomes this way through segregated spaces and increased personal investment in the hobby.

ABSTRACT. Collaboration and opposition are inherent mechanics of many games, and it often happens that a specific move is performed once by a collaborator, and another time by an opponent, and yet we have no problem of properly reacting to both, usually with entirely different moves of our own. Is that context-dependent switching of strategy already prepared by the perceptual process, that is, do we already ‘see’ the opponent’s move differently from that of our collaborator, even though both are the same in terms of sensory events? Or is it the subsequent deliberation prior to our own move that makes the difference? Do we prepare ourselves for the moves of the opponent in a different way than for that of our teammate? Is our brain activity similar to that of our partner, when we observe what our opponent does? Here we describe a novel setup to investigate these and other questions experimentally by using the neurophysiological method of electroencephalography (EEG) to unravel possible differences and similarities in brain activation for different contexts of player moves. To this end, we developed a novel card game with simplified rules that is played as computer game for three players whose brain activity is recorded simultaneously and continuously during the game.

ABSTRACT. This paper explores La valise de Lise, a portable serious game co-designed by the authors to address the under-discussed issue of older adult mistreatment. Combining analog and digital elements, our game employs escape-room mechanics and collaborative storytelling to engage participants in workshops ranging from 3 to 40 people. Players solve puzzles that reveal the story of a fictional character experiencing mistreatment, fostering critical reflection and group discussions facilitated by experts. Deployed across Quebec as part of a government strategy, the game is used by health and social service professionals, teenagers, and frontline workers to raise awareness and encourage action against mistreatment.

The game’s adaptability is exemplified by culturally specific versions developed with Indigenous communities, emphasizing co-design and situated knowledges to create resonant, accessible experiences. Framed within procedural rhetoric, research-creation, and assemblage theory, the study situates La valise de Lise as a relational system where meaning emerges through interactions among human, material, cultural, and digital elements. The game models ethical practices of care, accountability, and collective problem-solving, demonstrating the potential of serious games to transform complex social issues into opportunities for dialogue and action. By highlighting its iterative design and collaborative processes, the paper argues for the role of serious games in fostering ethical and cultural responsiveness.

ABSTRACT. This paper will start by introducing the concept of designable surface and explore the theoretical grounding of human encounter as a designable surface. This discussion will be rooted in game studies, social constructionism, and design research. The paper will then move to the applied part, where design insights and best practices from larp festivals and communities are leveraged to create situations where it is easier for people to overcome differences of opinion and lack of shared worldview and to come together and practice democratic deliberation. This paper will thus apply knowledge from game studies and game-play communities to support participatory decision-making.

ABSTRACT. This paper focuses on two resource management strategy games that model specific moments when a migrant’s well-being is in peril: crossing the desert at the U.S.-Mexico border and adapting to an uncertain life in a European city while waiting on an asylum application. I focus on how the games mobilize “will” both as a character variable to balance during gameplay and a player attribute to sustain in order to finish the game. This analysis proposes that we must move beyond discussions of empathy in migration games and center our critical analysis on the disjunctures between a game's purported moral and political lessons and its specific gameplay practices.

ABSTRACT. Breaking Off is an innovative virtual reality (VR) game designed to explore the emotional and moral dimensions of displacement through a deeply immersive and symbolic narrative structure. The game invites players to interact with symbolic objects representing fragments of a refugee’s personal history. These objects, tied to memories and pivotal moments, guide players through a branching narrative, encouraging reflection on the human cost of migration while offering insight into the emotional journey of refugees. The game’s minimalist design and intuitive mechanics amplify the narrative’s impact, emphasizing symbolic elements over complex visuals. This design choice fosters a more emotionally focused experience aimed at evoking empathy and understanding of the refugee experience. This paper examines Breaking Off as an example of how VR can transform complex social issues, particularly the refugee crisis, into an interactive experience that encourages emotional engagement. The development of the game is grounded in principles of narrative design, symbolic interaction, and immersive storytelling, which are explored to highlight VR's potential as a tool for fostering empathy and promoting social change.

ABSTRACT. ‘Ecogames’, the subdiscipline of videogame studies concerned with environment, has a shortcoming. I establish how ecogames changed from a deeply critical to a problematically optimistic field. Reflecting on science and recent events I suggest ecogames must take a stance against optimistic climate rhetoric. The role of games on our damaged planet must be to create tools to assist humanity with living and cooperating. I analyse two games: Chants of Sennaar (Moya and Panuel 2023) and Norco (Yuts and Gray 2022). I argue these games highlight the potential and pitfalls of games as environmental texts. Chants of Sennaar recommends actions that can be taken against climate change, but promises a utopia. By comparison Norco makes no promises but is not persuasive. Together they show we cannot promise a brighter future but without promises there is little to persuade players. In all I suggest an attitudinal shift is required. Ecogames should not frame climate problems as ones to be solved but must look beyond optimism, helping fellow climate survivors by rejecting desires for ideal lives, embracing instead a desire for least bad outcomes.

ABSTRACT. In recent years, the number of board games addressing climate change has increased, alongside the growing concern about this issue among the general population. This talk identifies recurring patterns and trends among 22 of these games and examines how these patterns influence their capacity to challenge capitalism’s imperative of perpetual growth, techno-solutionism, and techno-determinism.

ABSTRACT. ABSTRACT This research explores how eco-play design within tangible nature games can engage children aged 5-12 in conservation and care for our natural environments. This research is part of a six-year project between design students at Massey University in New Zealand, Aotearoa and “Kiwi Conservation Club (KCC)”, the junior division of the national conservation body, “Forest and Bird”. Design students work in teams to develop conservation-themed games that are play tested through a series of “play days” before being developed into functioning tangible games. Design students have created over twenty tangible games as open-source projects that KCC chapters throughout New Zealand, Aotearoa, can download, make and play at their meet-ups. Global scholarly research indicates a steady decline in childhood outdoor play and engagement. A UK Study revealed that children could better identify Pokémon characters than local flora and fauna (Robinson et al., 2016). The Child and Nature Network (Louv, 2008) coined an umbrella term for these negative impacts: ‘Nature Deficit Disorder’ Louv indicates, “Children today play outside less often, and for briefer periods, they have a more restricted home range and have fewer, less diverse playmates” (34). Increased structured activities, sports, after-school classes, and steady access to digital devices have influenced the decline in nature play. As we consider how to educate children about environmental responsibility alongside the challenges of climate change, tangible games designed with eco-play at their core can be powerful, pervasive agents in nature advocacy, and can link children directly to the natural world. In this research, I unpack the students’ game designs as case studies to explore the design development process for Eco-play. Three modes of nature-play games defined by Sobel (2008): Small worlds play, Fantasy and imagination and Animal allies are used as design methods to investigate the different modes of play. Specific consideration is given to their capacity for nature awareness, ease of child engagement, gamefulness and playability.

The benefits of nature play

Edith Cobb (1998, 29) argued that “nature for the child is a sheer sensory experience”. Living in cities and practising widespread consumerism means humans see themselves apart from nature; on the other hand, we also have relationships with all living things and can look to enhance these better. Louise Chawla’s extensive 2020 study (“Childhood Nature Connection”) into forming nature connections indicates that a child’s physical and mental well-being benefits from engaging in natural spaces. Children become better socialised, empathetic to other beings, and more likely to think of and take responsibility for the natural well-being of these spaces. Eco-play is a term used to define a mode of outdoor play that is the focus of this research. It combines the terms eco, meaning ecology or ecosystem, and imaginative play, the fantasy play that occurs when children play with other living organisms. Eco-play is a form of imaginative location-based play where children can play freely in natural spaces as a part of the environment. Many organisations have developed resources to encourage nature play internationally (e.g., Children & Nature Network, North American Association for Environmental Education) and Aotearoa, New Zealand (e.g., Little Kiwis Nature Play) But there is little research on the design of games specifically for nature play. For younger children, Eco-play often takes the form of small-world play (Sobel), where children settle in localised outdoor spaces and play with the natural elements immediately close to hand. These elements and objects are defined as “loose-part” toys (Daly and Beloglovsky, 2014) and comprise or are derived from natural elements themselves, such as sticks and rocks. In New Zealand, where much of our bush is in post-colonial regeneration, children are encouraged to look and not touch when out in the bush which makes it challenging to enact eco-play. Nature games designed specifically for play within the bush encourage children to play at “being animals, interacting with animals” (Petersen in Sobel, 32). Imaginative play in nature builds on children’s paracosms, which are elaborate fantasy worlds defined by the child and “serve as vehicles for storytelling and as a way to explore real-life interests” (Taylor et al. 2). Scaffolding the real natural world with fantastical storytelling has enabled the student designers to embody their games with animal perspectives within gameplay. Designing for nature play. The design methods draw on a triangulated influence of storytelling, worldbuilding, and product design; Huizinga’s (1949) magic circle is used as a foundational theory to examine the play space and the player’s relationship to the space. Students present a game design proposal at the project’s halfway point, including core play pillars for nature play, which inform the top-level game strategies and open-ended play activities that can be adapted with different players and locations of play. The second half of the class focuses on developing the design with regular playtesting and review sessions with Kiwi Conservation Club children. Playtesting took place in a local park where the “bush” was accessible for hands-on play. The final design results are playable, aesthetically refined games with all rules and instructions and open-source build instructions. Some featured games include - “Be a Bird”, a role-playing game where children play as Tūi birds. In “Heli Habitat Helpers”, children strategise how to get supplies to wildlife reserves. “Critters in Crisis” is a loose-part game where children create habitats from the natural surroundings, and “Pollution Revolution”; where children simulate the effects of the dairy industry through a game of rippa rugby .

CONCLUSION The research contributes new knowledge to the design process for developing eco-themed games and their impact on child engagement in natural spaces. Explored through a design lens, this paper documents a selection of design trajectories to develop eco-play games. I will share a case study analysis of three student-designed eco-games and the results from playtesting sessions conducted with KCC children. These results discuss eco-play design strategies and the impact of the final designs on nature engagement. Findings indicate eco-play that focuses on imaginative play, anthropomorphic and small world play can encourage environmental awareness.

ABSTRACT. My presentation aims to analyse Ark Nova (Wigge 2022) and its representation of zoos as utopian enclaves. Ark Nova is an economic board game in which players are responsible for developing and managing a successful zoo. They achieve this goal by building enclosures for animals, placing cards representing different species in those enclosures, cooperating with scientists and sponsors, and fulfilling environmental goals. In my paper, I would like to use Booth’s (2021) concept of ludo-textual analysis of board games, merging textual analysis with ecocriticism and critical theory’s approach to utopias.

ABSTRACT. This paper presents and discusses a “reading” of Ubisoft Montreal’s 2014 art game Child of Light as a likely case of John T. Caldwell’s (2014) shadow academy in practice. Regardless of whether that is the case or not, by making such an assumption I aim at an interpretation sensitive to the possibility that the text internalizes academic research in design, in anything from a structured to haphazard manner; this not only places a researcher in a loop in which we trace our own academic predecessors, but also illustrates how readings that derive from particular socio-cultural context become the basis for “new” meanings inculcated in the player, deliberately or not. I draw from 2012 interview with Jeffrey Yohalem, lead writer of Far Cry 3 and later Child of Light, where Yohalem rejects the death of the author and discusses his approach to controlling player sense-making in FC3 (Walker, 2012) (I abstain from judging the success of that particular project), as well as from the fact of his formal education in English literature at Yale University (Wiki). I propose to read the game alongside 1988 essay “Heading Out is Not Going Home” by Melodie Monahan. While this seemingly repositions Yohalem as the auteur of the game’s story, I recognize the game’s intertextuality in Kristevan sense. Hence, reading here means analyzing and interpreting, but also decoding, reconstructing and – construing. Intertextual approach precludes viewing the game’s meanings and reception as ever fully containable. This way, while academic inspirations cannot be confirmed (unless directly by the designers), the highly intertextual character of the game-text invites diverse readings, even if for the sake of testing interpretive possibilities. The aim is to underscore interesting questions that deserve further research in the future: shadow academy’s impact on culture via games, and the completeness of analysis/understanding of game meanings without considering such lineages.

ABSTRACT. The relationship between video games and traditional literature has been a subject of examination and debate in game studies ever since Janet Murray’s Hamlet on the Holodeck first positioned games as an incipient species of digital storytelling. Recent studies of the ever-expanding interstice where games and literary forms overlap include Astrid Ensslin’s Literary Gaming (2014), Jordan Magnuson’s Game Poems: Videogame Design as Lyric Practice (2023) and my own Dual Wield: The Interplay of Poetry and Video Games (2022), each of which emphasize a different kind of hybridity. Studies of interactive fiction – a longstanding subgenre of the game-literature hybrid in which written text is the most prominent design feature – are plentiful, from Nick Montfort’s Toward a Theory of Interactive Fiction (Jackson-Mead and Wheeler, 2011) to Matthew Farber and Karen Schrier’s more recent analyses of autobiographical games (Farber and Schrier, 2021). Throughout these examinations, as well as in the gaming scene itself, two forms of text-based game dominate: on the one hand, the branching narrative, which offers one of many possible iterations of a story in response to decisions made by players; on the other, the gated narrative, a largely linear story that is delivered in stages as a reward for the player completing tasks, such as solving puzzles or exploring an area within the game-world.

One notable departure from these two formulae is the browser-based Fallen London (Failbetter Games, 2009), built using Failbetter’s now-abandoned StoryNexus system. Though Fallen London emphasizes choice and exploration, nothing the player does will result in permanent loss of access to any story branch. There is no main narrative artery leading toward an ending; instead, players take part in hundreds of compartmentalized ‘storylets’, in an order determined by a combination of decision-making, hidden dice rolls and numerical variables, these representing qualities and abilities which can be improved as the game goes on. The more storylets are played, the more become available, allowing for both a deeper investment in the game’s world and lore and further development of the player’s custom character. Pacing is controlled through an ‘action economy’ system, whereby the player is only permitted to take a certain number of actions over a set time period.

While primarily text-based, especially in its early incarnations, Fallen London is unmistakably a video game; its features include a player avatar (called a ‘cameo’), costume parts, multiple currencies, a simulated card deck system for representing random encounters, and a vast array of collectible rewards. Its basic design, however, is reminiscent of key mid-twentieth-century experiments in literary fiction, such as B. S. Johnson’s The Unfortunates, a book-in-a-box made up of chapters that can be read in any order, and Tristano: A Novel by Nanni Belestrini made up of 10 chapters of 20 randomly ordered paragraphs, designed so that each reader’s copy of the story is unique. What if there were, therefore, a missing link between these texts and the current accepted range of forms taken by interactive fiction – an artefact that perhaps has more of a claim to being a novel than it does a video game, and which does not restrict access to its content via a branching choice system or completion requirements, but nevertheless envisages its reader as a player, one who inhabits its world and exerts an agency upon it?

This paper is a report on an ongoing practical research project that attempts to answer that question. The basis of the project is that by expanding on the elisions, ambiguities and lacunae that enable a game of Fallen London to pose as a plausible ongoing narrative, and permit (just about) a coherent reading of The Unfortunates and Tristano, it is possible to position the reader of a digital hypertext as a participant who, through the act of reading, is actively reassembling dozens upon dozens of unreliable memories of another life, testing different versions of the true order and significance of events by navigating the story-world and the characters within it. The story, such as it is, can thereby contain endless unresolved contradictions, as well as imitations and approximations of existing video game genres that omit traditional game mechanics. It can be, at times, for example, a dating simulator that never definitively provides an account of a date; the player’s encounters and dialogue with certain characters may or may not be viewed within a romantic context depending on how they choose to fill in the gaps, and what other choices the player has made as to what constitutes the authentic recollection. Whether it is possible to accept such an artefact as a video game, and on what basis, is also a part of the investigation. Undoubtedly, a sense of fatigue has set in around the question of defining video games after so many years of fervent questioning; I would argue, however, that one of the most exciting aspects of the medium is that games are forever on the verge of becoming something else, and that we should continue to challenge those boundaries that have been largely agreed upon.

ABSTRACT. (See Extended Abstract PDF submission) This proposal is for a presentation of my work over the past few years on producing The George Saunders Games Collection, a collection of game adaptations of the short stories by George Saunders. I am deeply engaged in the process of remediating difficult literary texts into games and going through this process to expand and explore new possibilities of experimental game design. I would like to share my work involved in adapting the stories CommComm (Saunders, 2005), Heavy Artillery (Saunders, 2010), and Escape from Spiderhead (Saunders, 2010) alongside adaptations of Puppy (Saunders, 2007), Sea Oak (Saunders, 1998), and three additional Spiderhead adaptations, which I commissioned from other game developers, working in both analog and digital game media. Each story presents unique challenges from a game designer’s perspective. Sea Oak, Puppy and CommComm have been particularly challenging and interesting case studies as the stories do offer the obvious hooks I usually rely on for game design such as action, conflict, physical objects and locations, and strong character agency. These stories are strongly evocative of mood through language and often singular dramatic moments.

ABSTRACT. Parties and partying appear in single-player videogames but have been studied little. In this paper, we investigate how parties are used and represented in videogames. In this explorative study, we analyzed 22 games to answer the research question. Parties in games are often intertextual references to film and television as well as to party games in popular culture. The analysis resulted in the following themes: Party as a Backdrop, Party as Space for Social Interaction, Party as a Place to Have Sex (with subthemes Bodies Collide, Party Games as Minigames and Party Games Motivating Sexual Encounters), Party as a Place for Voyeurism, and Organising a Party as a Challenge

ABSTRACT. Gameplay has a promising history of being the crossroad where strangers encounter each other and develop social connection by playing together. Diverse forms of play such as Game communities (Kahlbaugh 2011), Massive Multiplayer Online games (Kaye et al. 2017) and Pokémon Go (Vella et al. 2019), have all been shown to improve social connection. This is a critical topic of study as loneliness is a major mental health crisis (Cacioppo & Hawkley 2009) and “social support networks” are a key determinant of health (WHO, 2024). There are also numerous unanswered questions about how games and play may enable social connection. A recent overview on social connection in games concluded major gaps in the literature included unconventional games, including leisure, light or party games, and diverse player groups (Gonçalves et al. 2023). This text contributes to the promising literature of games as a point of socially connecting encounter through a mixed methods intervention where two strangers played 60 minutes of party games together. Our study utilized party games based on past reports that “party games” may be specifically goal-oriented towards playful social connection (ANON) and studied the effect playfulness had on the intervention as it has recently been seen a potential important factor for game-based mental health studies (Masek 2023) as potentially a moderator, mediator, or outcome variable (Shen & Masek 2024). We report our quantitative findings of a before-and-after trial design where participants answered the Revised Social-Connectedness Scale (RSCS; Lee & Robbins 1998) and the Adult Playfulness Trait Scale (APTS; Shen, Chick, & Zinn 2014). Participants were also interviewed, but the qualitative data is still being analyzed. Theoretical Paradigm Based upon past work we constructed three hypotheses. Firstly, we hypothesized that following a 60-minute gameplay experience, participants would have statistically higher degrees of perceived social connection, as measured by the RSCS, as compared to their day so far (H1). Secondly, based on past evidence that playful experience may increase perception of playfulness as a personality trait (Proyer et al. 2021), we predicted that gameplay would increase Playfulness as measured by the APTS (H2). Thirdly, we hypothesized that APTS would act as a moderator on the effect that gameplay experience would have on RSCS, in plain terms that more playful people would see a larger increase in social connection from playing the game (H3). See Figure 1. for our theoretical paradigm.

Figure 1: Theoretical Paradigm Recruitment/Participants Participants (N=30) were recruited through a public space at a mid-sized university in Finland called the Oasis Space and the DMlab Pool (Greiner 2015). Participants were ages 20-54, though most frequently young adults (Average=29.5). They were highly educated with 66% having a partial or completed Master’s or Doctoral degree and with all having at least a partial Bachelor’s. None of them knew the purpose of the study, only that they would be playing a video game with a stranger for an hour. A Majority (73%) of participants identified as Male, with 20% identifying as Female and 7% identifying as non-binary or gender-fluid. Participants were highly culturally diverse, describing themselves as coming from 17 different national/cultural backgrounds. All participants spoke English, but they were allowed to speak any language they felt most comfortable with during gameplay. Gameplay Participants experienced 30 minutes each of two different Nintendo designed “party games”. In a randomized order they either played a series of rounds of Super Smash Brothers (Nintendo 2018), in a series of competitive matches, or select missions from Nintendo’s Mario Party Superstars (Nintendo 2021) chosen for their cooperative/collaborative design. During gameplay, participants were adjacent to each other physically, in a publicly known room. They were told they may talk or play “any way they would normally” and change any difficulty settings/change game levels if they so wish. Preliminary Results We utilized a paired T-Test to measure changes in social connection and playfulness. We found a statistically significant (p < .01) increase in RSSC after as compared to before the experience. The average mean before gameplay for RSSC was 33.3 (St. dev.= 7.9) and after was 37.8 (St. dev.= 6.7) with a resulting increase of 4.47 in social connection (95% confidence interval from 7.47 to 1.60), with a t-score of 3.16 and Cohen’s d of .61 indicating a medium or large effect size (Becker 2000). The APTS pre-gameplay had a mean of 64.2 (St dev=9.6) and a post-gameplay mean of 68 with a statistically significant increase of 3.77 (95% CI of 2.24-5.29, p< .01) and a t-score of 5.04 and a Cohen’s.39 indicating a medium sized effect. In this way, playing the game appeared to significantly increase participants’ sense of social connection, and playfulness as a personality trait. To test for an interaction between APTS and the intervention, we followed the guidance of Baron & Kenny (1986) and conducted an ANOVA with interaction. We found a statistically-significant difference in SSSC from both the intervention (F(1) = 3.997, p = .05) and by the APTS (F(1) =5 .598 p < .05), though the interaction between the terms was not significant. In this way, while both playfulness and the gameplay experience were significantly associated with higher social connection, we did not find any evidence that the participants degree of playfulness changed the degree of effect playing the game had on their perceived social connection. Discussion and Conclusion While still preliminary, these results provide valuable data on what are the processes and health benefits for encountering strangers in a co-located game experience. In a matter of 60 minutes, two strangers playing party games statistically increased their perceived social connection and playfulness. There is still considerable work to be done in understanding why, when and how gameplay experiences between strangers can enable social connection and relieve loneliness, but this is an important step in establishing the value games can play in social health and wellbeing.

ABSTRACT. For gamers today, whether they were active or not in the late 90s to early 2000s, the LAN (local area network) Party appears to be a long-extinct creature. Prior to advancements in internet and communication technology, many real-time multiplayer games, like Counter-Strike (Valve 2009) and Unreal Tournament (Epic Games 1999), had graphics that far exceeded the limits of internet connections at the time (k, 2024, p. 7). Eager to experience smooth, reliable multiplayer, players began hosting in-person LAN parties. Attendees of a LAN Party would bring their own computers or gaming consoles and establish a LAN connection via a switch or router, using the fast speeds of local connection to play together. However, as computer towers transitioned into laptops and company-hosted multiplayer servers became more and more powerful, LAN Parties began to fade away.

Despite its relative absence in the here and now, the phrase “LAN Party” continues to evoke images of community-centric fun — crowded rooms filled with PCs, late nights turned into early mornings, and an abundance of junk food. Even though LAN parties are not present in the same capacity now, they possess an enduring spirit, which has carried into the present an outlook towards computing that is adventurous and bold. As merritt k writes, there is a fondness associated with these events, driven by our current moment where “communications technology paradoxically seems to produce a sense of disconnection for many people.” The photos of groups of people coming together, united by computers, appear strange at a time when online activity is viewed as responsible for a great deal of personal and political hostility. It is the frustration of this incongruity, the difference of computing and gaming culture from then to now, that images of the LAN Party soothe. Providing not just a promise of, but a very real example of “a world in which ownership of software and play belonged more to individuals than corporations” (k, 2024, p. 9). We argue that a longing for the LAN Party is more than just a manifestation of the frustrations with current gaming culture and technology industries, it is a model of practices and attitudes towards computing that are being adopted today.

We acknowledge that nostalgia, both at large and for our specific purposes, has the potential to soften the issues of the past. Modern nostalgia about the LAN Party tends to overlook the fact that these spaces were often white, male-dominated, and hostile to women (k, 2024, p. 9). Regardless of these very real flaws, our understanding of nostalgia, borrowed from Carly Kocurek's use of the concept in Coin-Operated Americans, is not interested in a full-scale revival of the past, but instead is searching for a way we can learn from it, examine its many intertwining threads, and apply those to the shortcomings of the present, particularly with regards to gaming and technology (Kocurek, 2015). We see a longing for the LAN Party in the same way Sean Fenty presents video game longing, as an opportunity to return to a moment when we experienced “the sheer joy of beginning to know another world,” when computing and gaming were younger, subversive, and experimental (Fenty, 2008, p. 23).

Our research pulls from observations of our own lived experiences, as artists, researchers, and educators in the field of games, and importantly, as post-LAN gamers ourselves. We have witnessed, like many of our colleagues, new gamers and game designers, born and raised in a world where gaming has always been a large corporate endeavor, and where gaming communities are developed almost entirely online. While the specific eras of nostalgia have changed throughout the years, recently from the 90s to the 2000s, gamers continue to look back on LAN Parties due to a shared dissatisfaction with gaming culture under big, mainstream technology companies. A look back at the LAN Party shows us a time when access to computer software, tools, and parts was more common, and when planned obsolescence did not seem to haunt every new release of technology. While the LAN Party certainly wasn't a social or technological utopia, LAN Parties still have the potential to show us a path forward and inspire us to work toward a culture of gaming and technology that is liberated from corporations.

ABSTRACT. The strategic use of esports in institutional and national diplomatic relations is a hard form of esports diplomacy. This paper analyses the idea of esports diplomacy under current global political shifts and tensions surrounding authoritarian capitalism and the use of sports and esports as a nation branding activity under sports institutional frameworks. Qualitative case study research undertaken at international sports mega-events, supplemented by secondary document and archival materials, are analyzed and considered through encounters and divergences within sports and esports diplomacy practice and scholarship.

ABSTRACT. In this presentation, we apply a framework for transformative justice to two empirical case studies based on ethnographic data. We will analyse the ways in which the studied spaces and communities establish access and participation - or in other words which bodies are made possible and which bodies might be impossible - and how this gets negotiated by participants. Doing so will highlight both the (infra)structural conditions for participation, as well as the lived experience and contextual negotiation of these (infra)structural conditions. This allows for an understanding of current practices through the transformative justice framework that addresses best practices and ongoing issues simultaneously.

ABSTRACT. Extended Abstract submission:

Game studies has long been concerned with the ways economic value circulates both within and around games (Giddings, 2018). In this paper, the relationship games share with global flows of economic capital is viewed critically through the significance of esports mega-events, particularly the League of Legends (Riot Games, 2009) 2024 World Championship Final that took place in London. Through combining a game studies approach of mapping out new terrains of economic value connected with digital play to a geopolitical perspective common in the wider world of sporting events (Chadwick et al, 2023), this paper posits the significance of esports to cities and nation states as symbolic of a new digital imaginary.

ABSTRACT. In 2021, popular rapper Travis Scott’s Fortnite in-game concert attracted 12 million simultaneous players, gathering widespread attention from both gaming and music specialized media as well as fans (Moritzen, 2022). As this event happened during the Covid-19 pandemic, a time in which online forms of sociability were being put in the spotlight, there was a perception that music concerts placed inside gaming worlds were a brand-new development. This paper intends to argue that in-game concerts are a frequent and spontaneous form of musical self-expression from gamers, and that their origin can be traced to the first online gaming experiences: MUDs (Multi-user Dungeons). This affirmation is based on literature review and data collected by the author between 2023 and 2024 through semi-structured interviews conducted over Discord with one former gamer of MUDs (Druidsfire, she/her, USA) and one game developer (Axxa, he/him, Finland) of BatMUD (Balance Alternative Techniques, 1990); as well as e-mail correspondence with Richard Bartle, co-creator of MUD1 (Roy Trubshaw and Richard Bartle, 1978); and BatMUD’s gaming records dating from 2001 provided by Axxa.

ABSTRACT. This presentation focuses on a space-based analysis of Shibuya as reproduced in Jet Set Radio and NEO: The World Ends With You. Drawing on Lefebvre's theory of socially produced space and reflecting on the history of youth culture in the district, this analysis discusses how the games reproduce the space of Shibuya and the spatial practice of the youth subcultures that spend their time there.

ABSTRACT. A work-in-progress analysis of how games and play have been integrated into Taylor Swift’s lyrics (as a classic means of referencing different cultural phenomena) and audience engagement strategies through gameful/gamified elements such as easter eggs (as a more recent example of how music industry and games are converging).

ABSTRACT. Unlike its predecessor, the Atari VCS, the Atari 5200 is often regarded as a failure. In this presentation, I explore the key reasons why Atari’s second console fell short of user expectations—and consider how the very features that led to its downfall might have been reimagined as strengths.

ABSTRACT. When the tiny handheld gaming console Playdate was announced in 2019, it was described as a unique, “truly different” device that would deliver “fun and delight.” (Panic 2019) The 20-page reveal story published by the Edge magazine mentioned that Playdate was “purpose-built for happiness” and at the same time “purposefully countercultural.” (Simpkins 2019) The device’s manufacturer, the U.S. games publisher Panic, originally intended it as an homage to Nintendo’s Game & Watch devices, with the twist that Playdate would get remotely updated with new games which comprise a “season”. The early coverage and press releases portrayed it as a cute and quirky object, in part thanks to its unorthodox crank controller. Since its release in 2022, Playdate has become a platform of its own, with third-party developers selling games through a dedicated app store (called Catalog). Despite becoming much alike other gaming platforms, Panic still aims to maintain an image of Playdate as a wholesome, quirky, and cozy platform. This paper will bring together literature on cozy games and platform studies to examine Playdate as a cozy platform. In recent years, the concept of cozy games has gained considerable traction. It originated among game designers both as a description of existing trends (Stardew Valley or Animal Crossing) and a formulation of a design approach that values safety, abundance, and softness, and therefore breaks from the hegemonic gaming culture built on competition and challenge (Short et al. 2018). Within game studies, the idea of cozy games has been regarded as useful if ambiguous aesthetic category built around a “fantasy of stability” (Waszkiewicz and Bakun 2020). Cozy games have also been critiqued for facilitating “consumerist retreat into coziness” (Andiloro 2024, 88) and generally for its conservative tendencies, often connected to cozy games’ nostalgic undertones (Bódi 2024; Scully-Blaker 2024) and their cuteness (see Dale et al. 2017). Although Panic tends to avoid calling Playdate a platform, it clearly is one both in the sense of a specific hardware standard (Montfort and Bogost 2009) and a framework for content distribution and monetization (see Nieborg and Poell 2018; Thorhauge 2023). This paper will use the following material and methods: 1) Panic’s Playdate-related press releases and video updates, which will be examined using discourse analysis, 2) the initial season of 24 Playdate games plus the earliest 24 Catalog games, analyzed following the recommendations from game analysis literature (Fernández-Vara 2015), and qualitatively coded with regard to themes and genre markers, 3) a description of the platform’s affordances and the user experience obtained using the walkthrough method (Light, Burgess, and Duguay 2018). We will identify themes and patterns typical of cozy gaming and examine the tensions that arise between coziness and other values, aesthetics, and design approaches. So far, we have analyzed 90% of the press materials and 50% of the games. The analysis will be finished during Spring 2025. The preliminary results suggest several key tensions. The first one is coziness vs. subversion. While many Playdate games coherently apply the cozy aesthetic to create feelgood experiences – such as the “mental health golf game” Faraway Fairway (Hedgehog Dreams 2023) –, others apply the aesthetic in a dissonant way (Waszkiewicz and Bakun 2020), employing cute characters to express, for example, strong anti-capitalist sentiments, such as the match-3 game Pick Pack Pup (Magnier, Hamer, and Gabriel 2021), an apparent satire of the working conditions in Amazon warehouses. The second tension identified in our preliminary analysis is between coziness and retro gaming. While nostalgia tends to be a strong element of cozy aesthetics, it may result in design patterns that are at odds with the values of abundance and softness. The flagship Season One title Crankin's Time Travel Adventure (Uvula, Grimm, and Inman 2021) is a cute game “about a nap loving robot” but is also surprisingly and uncompromisingly difficult, sending mixed messages to the audiences. The third, and perhaps most significant, tension is between coziness and commerce. Due to its technical limitations, Playdate as a platform attracts indie and solo developers who tend to share the values of cozy gaming. The Catalog is heavily curated and its user experience is designed to be unobtrusive, quirky (it uses a “crank to buy” feature), and devoid of aggressive marketing or potentially controversial user reviews (Cantone, Tomaselli, and Mazzeo 2024). However, it has gradually introduced common app store features such as wishlists and seasonal sales, making it more similar to platforms like the Nintendo Switch or Steam (Thorhauge 2023). In this regard, Panic have been aiming to strike a delicate balance between extracting profit and creating cozy experiences. By examining the platform and its tensions, we may learn more not only about Playdate, but also about the inherent contradictions of the cozy gaming phenomenon.

ABSTRACT. Home computers and video game consoles began arriving in Türkiye shortly after the economic liberalization program announced on the 24th of January 1980. With this program, the Turkish state abandoned its import-substitution industrial development model, encouraging private enterprise and investment from abroad. All restrictions on international trade were lifted and imported consumer goods flooded the Turkish market. Taking advantage of the new economic regime, Atari Inc. was one of the first companies to arrive, striking a deal with a local electronics company (Meta Elektronik Endüstri, ME-TA) in 1984 to produce and distribute licensed Atari 2600 consoles in Türkiye. The Atari 2600 consoles produced in the ME-TA’s Istanbul factory would be distributed throughout Türkiye using the Shaub-Lorenz sales network. The company also sold localized Turkish language versions of popular Atari games such as Pacman (Dobişko), Space Invaders (Uzay Korsanları) and Missile Defence (Füze Savaşları). At the time of the license sale, Atari Inc. was facing significant losses due to the video game crisis of 1983. The Warner Bros management had begun to break up Atari Inc into pieces. After a few weeks of ME-TA's electronic console production, the home computing and game console divisions of Atari Inc. were sold to Jack Tramiel, the famed founder of Commodore International. Tramiel renamed Atari Inc. to Atari Corporation, while Warner Bros. retained the arcade division, renaming it Atari Games. Under these conditions, ME-TA continued production and implemented a special hardware modification to limit the consoles to only play games manufactured by ME-TA. This limitation, applied by ME-TA, making consoles exclusively compatible with ME-TA manufactured games, stands out as one of the first hardware-based region-locking implementations in the world, predating Nintendo's region-locking feature on NES games by a year. Despite the initial promise and aggressive marketing, ME-TA's attempt to control the Turkish video console market through region-locking proved unsustainable. The local consumer base, savvy and resourceful, found creative ways to bypass these restrictions, leading to widespread modification of consoles. To push back at this worrisome trend, ME-TA began running adverts in national newspapers warning users about the dangers of modifying Atari consoles. Yet ME-TA's efforts to curb this trend through advertising warnings were ultimately futile. The company's inability to adapt to the consumer's demands led to the cessation of console production within a mere two years. Nevertheless, until the company’s bankruptcy in 1994, ME-TA continued to import and market various Atari ST models in Türkiye. The story of ME-TA and the region-locked Atari 2600 consoles remains a fascinating chapter in Türkiye’s video game history, illustrating how corporate, profit-motivated technological fixes can lead to unintended (and undesired) consequences.