Computer Sciences
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Pinball Research at School
Utrecht University performed play experiments at Basisschool De Odyssee (Utrecht) to understand the positive effects of playing for children. To what extent does playing together promote self-disclosure? Specifically, the researchers were interested in to what extent playing together creates feelings of safety and social connectedness for children, and to what extent those feelings promote self-disclosure,
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A new game that opens up your mind
Have you ever received a message from someone who’s number is not in your phone? We’ve all been in that situation before, trying to guess who the mystery sender is. This all-too-common situation is one of three starting points of Open Mind, a creative ‘whodonnit’-type educational game. Players have to talk to various characters –
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PhD Position in Player-Centric Video Game AI
Apply now! Are you excited about the use of contemporary AI in video game play and development? Do you want to study novel, enhanced player experiences or integrate cutting-edge approaches to open new avenues in games? Then this PhD is for you! The Multimedia group at Utrecht University offers a four-year PhD position in Player-Centric
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Game Research @Dutch DiGRA 2024 Symposium
On November 21, game scholars from all over The Netherlands and well beyond gathered at Erasmus University for the Dutch DiGRA 2024 Symposium. Many researchers from Utrecht presented their projects.
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Game Research @CHI PLAY 2024!
The Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play (CHI PLAY) was recently held in Tampere, Finland. Our researchers were strongly involved in the organization (serving as papers chair, student volunteer chair, and workshop organizers) and presented a variety of contributions.
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Summer School Game Design and Development 2024
From August 19-23, 2024, we had the pleasure of hosting this year’s Summer School Game Design and Development, organized by Dr. Sandes Bakkes and Dr. Julian Frommel and supported by Jens Steenmetz and Philip Tap. We had the pleasure of welcoming 23 students from various countries and a wide range of disciplinary backgrounds to Utrecht.
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Game Research @FDG 2024!
The International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games (FDG) invites any-and-all research contributions that advance the study, understanding, and knowledge of digital games. From traditional academic submissions (e.g., full papers and short papers) to interactive playable experiences (e.g., full games or demos), to panel proposals, doctoral consortium applications, and beyond, FDG strives to provide
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Game Research at CHI 2024
The ACM (Association of Computing Machinery) CHI conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems occurred from May 11-16, 2024 in Honolulu. Our games researchers from the Utrecht Center for Game Research attended and presented a variety of contributions.
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Summer School on Game Design and Development
Utrecht University's Summer School on Game Design and Development is approaching maximum capacity of 30 students.

Crowds deciphered: simulation and control of the masses
We have researched a model for simulating crowds in big infrastructures, at events, and in computer games.