Dutch DiGRA Symposium 2025: Futures for Game Research

Call for Abstracts Call for abstracts out now! The Digital Games Research Association is “An international association for academics and professionals who research digital games and associated phenomena.” Its aim is to stimulate high-quality research on games, and to “promote collaboration and dissemination of work by its members.” Aside from the main conference, countries may

Marijn Benschop, dr. Laura op de Beke
21-05-2025 // Events, Insights, News // Multi theme

Game Research @ CHI 2025

The latest installment of the ACM (Association of Computing Machinery) CHI conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems took place in Yokohama, Japan from April 26 to May 01, 2025. CHI is the premier international conference of Human-Computer Interaction and had a record attendance with more than 5200 on-site attendees this year. Researchers from the

dr. Julian Frommel, dr. Johannes Pfau
14-05-2025 // Events, News // Ethics of Play, Game Technology and AI, Social Games and Play

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,

dr. Sander Bakkes
14-02-2025 // Insights, News // Play Research, Player Research and Psychology

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 –

Editorial Team
31-01-2025 // Insights, Longread, News // Games Beyond Entertainment

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

dr. Johannes Pfau
08-01-2025 // Jobs, News // Game Technology and AI

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.

Editorial Team
22-11-2024 // Events // Games and Sustainability, Games Beyond Entertainment, Play Research

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.

Editorial Team
25-10-2024 // Events, Insights // Ethics of Play, Game Technology and AI, Games Beyond Entertainment, Multi theme, Player Research and Psychology, Social Games and Play

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.

Editorial Team
29-08-2024 // Education, Insights //

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

Editorial Team
29-05-2024 // Insights // Game Technology and AI, Play Research, Player Research and Psychology

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.

Editorial Team
23-05-2024 // Events, News, Publications // Ethics of Play, Extended Realities (AR/VR/XR), Game Technology and AI, Player Research and Psychology, Social Games and Play