The yearly international confernce of the Digital Games Research Association (DiGRA) was held in Guadalajara, Mexico from 1-5 July, and members from the Utrecht Center for Game Research were present to present their current work. This year’s conferenc theme was Playgrounds, with a focus on how games shape societies where the digital is mixed with reality. The conference featured both presentations of peer-reviewed full papers and extended abstracts, as well as panels, workshops, a doctorial consortium and, as a new addition, experimental submissions like games, game art, and so on.
Papers and workshops researchers from Utrecht were involved in were (affiliated researchers in bold):
- René Glas (extended abstract): “Remakes, Remasters, and Paratextual Revisits”. This paper, part of a larger book project, questions in what ways we can consider remakes and remasters as paratextual in relation to their original games; how this perspective allows us to reflect on the industry’s dealing with past and present, and what it means for our understanding of the player experience of such games.
- Jasper van Vught (extended abstract): “Playing the Hidden Curriculum: Designing Games to Materialize and Question the Unwritten Rules in Higher Education Classrooms”. This paper discusses the use of discursive game design exercises in the higher education classroom to materialize, question, and renegotiate the hidden curriculum.
- Jasper van Vught & Alex Mitchell (workshop): “Formalism as a Philosophy for Designing the Unconventional”. This workshop focused on alternative design methods for the often convential approached found in the games industry by exploring formalism as a design philosophy (rather than a method) to help designers create unconventional games.
The main website for the conference can be found here.
