Center for Game Research

Center for Game Research

The central hub for disseminating game research from Utrecht University

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  • Most recent

    • Publication: Belongingness and Resistance in Platformed Play: Feminist Agency among Female Gamers in China
    • New minor “Games and Play in a Changing Society” open for registration
    • ASS POWER: Gaming at the Theatre
    • Games-related treasures from De Schatkamer
    • Designing Social Interactions
  • Most viewed

    • Dutch DiGRA Symposium 2025: Futures for Game and Play Research.
    • PhD Position in Player-Centric Video Game AI
    • Funded PhD position: Playing the Hidden Curriculum
    • New minor “Games and Play in a Changing Society” open for registration
    • Game Research at CHI 2024

Publication: Belongingness and Resistance in Platformed Play: Feminist Agency among Female Gamers in China

A new special issue of the Gamevironments journal on ‘Beyond Play’ was recently published and in it we find a contribution by UU PhD candidate Weijie Huang together with Payal Arora and Maya Yerkes.

Editorial Team
11-09-2026 // Publications // Social Games and Play

New minor “Games and Play in a Changing Society” open for registration

The new curriculum, which replaces the previous minor “Game Studies’, is a transdisciplinary collaboration between the Department of Media & Cultures studies (MCW), the Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development and the Department of Information and Computing Sciences and enables students to analyze games and play in contemporary culture and to creatively apply them to address societal challenges.

08-06-2026 // Education // Criticism and Analysis, Game Design, Games Beyond Entertainment, Play Research, Social Games and Play

ASS POWER: Gaming at the Theatre

A review of Patrick Blenkarn and Milton Lim’s 8 hour revolutionary donkey epic that sits between theatre and videogames. A collective gaming experience that will have you braying heeeee-haaaww while you contemplate issues of labor, automation, violence, and the good life.

03-06-2026 // Insights // Criticism and Analysis, Ethics of Play, Game Design, Games Beyond Entertainment

Research Projects

>> All Research Projects

Comenius - Fostering an Open Mind

Making Game Studies’ Research Practical with Discursive Game Design

Co-creation of games, participatory design, open dialogue, and social perspective-taking currently lie at the centre of game research at Utrecht University. All these practices are characteristic of Discursive Game Design (DGD), a method that highlights the processes underlying practice-based game research, rather than a final "fixed" product.

Marijn Benschop
02-03-2026 // Insights // Criticism and Analysis, Game Design, Games Beyond Entertainment
  • Education, News:

    Open Mind game challenges to look further

  • Events, Insights, News:

    Taking Perspectives with Game Design: Teachers wanted for pilot!

ANTICIPLAY

Take a course, build a video game, change the world

Heads up UU students! Ever wondered what it would be like to build a video game to change the world? We have a few late registration spots left in our BSc course ‘The Sustainability Game’! This course is open to all 2nd and 3rd year Utrecht University students who have some previous interest and background

dr. Joost Vervoort
14-01-2026 // Education, News // Games and Sustainability
  • Insights, Longread:

    “Change makers don’t understand games; game makers don’t understand change”

  • Events:

    Week of the Game @ Utrecht University

Shape2Gether - Erasmus+

Shape2gether: Sharing our knowledge about discursive game design

Last November Aengus, Isabel and Mick visited two conferences to share some of the outcomes of the Erasmus+ hape2gether project with a broader audience.

Mick Raamsteeboers, Isabel Rump, Aengus Schulte
10-01-2026 // Education, Events // Games and Sustainability, Games Beyond Entertainment
  • Education, Events:

    Shape2Gether: Experiencing the Bochum Summer School

  • Events:

    Shape2Gether – Time for Workshops

Virtual Reality as Empathy Machine

CFP: “VR as Empathy Machine: Media, Migration and the Humanitarian Predicament”

 Book Title: Beyond the Empathy Machine: Critical Perspectives on Virtual Reality  Editors: Professor Sandra Ponzanesi (s.ponzanesi@uu.nl), Dr. Jenny Andrine Madsen Evang (j.a.m.evang@uu.nl), Dr. Wouter Oomen (w.a.oomen@uu.nl), Laurence Herfs (l.l.herfs@uu.nl), and Lisa Burghardt (l.burghardt@uu.nl)  Over the last decade or so, Virtual Reality (VR) has been honed as a new frontier in social tech. From Chris Milk and Gabo

Editorial Team
07-01-2026 // Books // Extended Realities (AR/VR/XR)
  • Events:

    Week of the Game @ Utrecht University

  • Education, Events, Publications:

    History of Game Research at Utrecht University

Themes

>> All Themes

Social Games and Play

Publication: Belongingness and Resistance in Platformed Play: Feminist Agency among Female Gamers in China

A new special issue of the Gamevironments journal on 'Beyond Play' was recently published and in it we find a contribution by UU PhD candidate Weijie Huang together with Payal Arora and Maya Yerkes.

Editorial Team
11-09-2026 // Publications // Social Games and Play
  • Education:

    New minor “Games and Play in a Changing Society” open for registration

  • Education, News:

    Open Mind game challenges to look further

Play Research

New minor “Games and Play in a Changing Society” open for registration

The new curriculum, which replaces the previous minor “Game Studies’, is a transdisciplinary collaboration between the Department of Media & Cultures studies (MCW), the Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development and the Department of Information and Computing Sciences and enables students to analyze games and play in contemporary culture and to creatively apply them to address societal challenges.

08-06-2026 // Education // Criticism and Analysis, Game Design, Games Beyond Entertainment, Play Research, Social Games and Play
  • Insights, News:

    Pinball Research at School

  • Events:

    Game Research @Dutch DiGRA 2024 Symposium

Games Beyond Entertainment

ASS POWER: Gaming at the Theatre

A review of Patrick Blenkarn and Milton Lim's 8 hour revolutionary donkey epic that sits between theatre and videogames. A collective gaming experience that will have you braying heeeee-haaaww while you contemplate issues of labor, automation, violence, and the good life.

03-06-2026 // Insights // Criticism and Analysis, Ethics of Play, Game Design, Games Beyond Entertainment
  • In the media, News:

    Games-related treasures from De Schatkamer

  • Insights:

    Designing Social Interactions

Game Design

Making Game Studies’ Research Practical with Discursive Game Design

Co-creation of games, participatory design, open dialogue, and social perspective-taking currently lie at the centre of game research at Utrecht University. All these practices are characteristic of Discursive Game Design (DGD), a method that highlights the processes underlying practice-based game research, rather than a final "fixed" product.

Marijn Benschop
02-03-2026 // Insights // Criticism and Analysis, Game Design, Games Beyond Entertainment
  • In the media, News:

    All Will Rise – crowdfunding campaign now live!

  • Education, Events:

    Hybrid Franchise Hacking Workshop (Gamelab x Man Met)

Disciplines

>> All Disciplines

Media and Culture Studies

Publication: Belongingness and Resistance in Platformed Play: Feminist Agency among Female Gamers in China

A new special issue of the Gamevironments journal on 'Beyond Play' was recently published and in it we find a contribution by UU PhD candidate Weijie Huang together with Payal Arora and Maya Yerkes.

Editorial Team
11-09-2026 // Publications // Social Games and Play
  • Education:

    New minor “Games and Play in a Changing Society” open for registration

  • Insights:

    ASS POWER: Gaming at the Theatre

Sociology

Book: Toys and Communication

A new edited volume has been published by Palgrave Macmillen titled Toys and Communication and edited by Luísa Magalhães and Jeffrey Goldstein.

Editorial Team
14-10-2018 // Books // Play Research, Player Research and Psychology, Social Games and Play

Computer Sciences

New minor “Games and Play in a Changing Society” open for registration

The new curriculum, which replaces the previous minor “Game Studies’, is a transdisciplinary collaboration between the Department of Media & Cultures studies (MCW), the Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development and the Department of Information and Computing Sciences and enables students to analyze games and play in contemporary culture and to creatively apply them to address societal challenges.

08-06-2026 // Education // Criticism and Analysis, Game Design, Games Beyond Entertainment, Play Research, Social Games and Play
  • Education, News:

    Open Mind game challenges to look further

  • Events, Insights, News:

    Dutch DiGRA Symposium 2025: Futures for Game and Play Research.

Geosciences

Shape2gether: Sharing our knowledge about discursive game design

Last November Aengus, Isabel and Mick visited two conferences to share some of the outcomes of the Erasmus+ hape2gether project with a broader audience.

Mick Raamsteeboers, Isabel Rump, Aengus Schulte
10-01-2026 // Education, Events // Games and Sustainability, Games Beyond Entertainment
  • Events, Insights, News:

    Dutch DiGRA Symposium 2025: Futures for Game and Play Research.

  • Education, Events:

    Shape2Gether: Experiencing the Bochum Summer School

Center for Game Research

Central hub for disseminating high-quality game research from Utrecht University to a diverse audience that includes academics, students, game developers, and journalists.

Contact

Drift 10, 3512 BS Utrecht

The Netherlands

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