Welcome to the Games & Society Lab
At the Games & Society Lab, our students and faculty are dedicated to the research and development of playful, interactive experiences. The aim is to advance our understanding of games as media and push the boundaries of what games can be.
The Games & Society Lab is a research hub at the Department of Game Design at Uppsala University Campus Gotland. Our researchers investigate how games impact the lives of designers, players, communities, and the broader society at large. We view games not as distinct from the “real world,” but as valid and meaningful experiences. Our research explores games as part of larger psychological, social, and cultural systems within which players operate.
Click here for the Games and Society website and archive
Click here to learn more about the Transformative Play Initiative Seminar 2022: Role-playing, Culture, & Heritage
Research at the Games & Society Lab
Our work focuses on three overall categories of research. These categories are often interdependent, mixing and overlapping with one another.
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Psychology of play,
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Cultures of play, and
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Transformative play.
Our students and faculty come from all parts of the world and bring together a broad range of design and research interests. We study a wide variety of digital and analog games. Some examples include virtual, text-based, tabletop, board, live action role-playing (larp), and freeform games. The lab focuses on games in a variety of contexts. We study games taking place for their own sake, such as in leisure settings. We also investigate games designed for specific purposes, such as educational and therapeutic environments.
Students and faculty work together in the lab sharing their varied cultural backgrounds and expertise. We regularly cultivate collaborations with outside academics, researchers, developers, and industry leaders. The lab also hosts guest lectures, workshops, and roundtable discussions from international experts in the field.
Read more about how we explore Psychology of Play.
Read more about how we explore Cultures of Play.
Read more about how we explore Transformative Play.
Read about all our ongoing research projects.
News From The Games & Society Lab
For more news, see News and Events
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New publications: Therapeutic and educational theory and role-playing games
The Transformative Play Initiative has three new publications to share:
- Elektra Diakolambrianou and Sarah Lynne Bowman, "Dual Consciousness: What Psychology and Counseling Theories Can Teach and Learn Regarding Identity and the Role-Playing Game Experience."
- Josefin Westborg and Sarah Lynne Bowman, "GM Screen: The Didactic Potential of RPGs" and "Cheat Sheet: What We Can Learn from Edu-Larp and Other (Non-TT) RPGs."
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Announcing Erasmus+ EDGE: Empowering Game Design Education with Transformative RPGs
Announcing the launch of Empowering Game Design Education with Transformative Role-playing Games (EDGE) — An Erasmus+ Cooperation Partnership in Higher Education! The EDGE consortium consists of Uppsala University (Sweden), Turku University of Applied Sciences (Finland), Dragons Nest (Greece), Chaos League (Italy), and Avalon Larp Studio (Norway).
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Ritual: The Importance of Framing Transformational Experiences
Join us for our next lecture in the Transformative Play Initiative Event Series: "Ritual: The Importance of Framing Transformational Experiences” by Caro Murphy!
When: Tuesday, October 3, 7-8:30PM Central European Summer Time (CEST)
Where: Online on ZoomRegister here: https://tinyurl.com/eh3462e5
Link will be provided to registrants on the day of the event.