dr. Laura op de Beke
Assistant professor of interactive media, screens, and interfaces; background in literary studies and game studies.
Ecogame Playtesting Series 2024/25
In September 2024, the Network for Environmental Humanities (NEH) and the Utrecht Game Lab are launching a new series of events playtesting and discussing ‘ecogames’: or games that engage with the environment and with the climate crisis.
“Hacking Board Games” Workshop at RMeS 2024 Summer School
Concluding the RMeS Summer School 2024: Environmental Media, Laura op de Beke and Stefan Werning of the Utrecht Game Lab organised a workshop for RMA students to facilitate ecological thinking by redesigning (or: ‘hacking’) board games.
Franchise Hacking – Magic: the Gathering
'Franchise hacking’ within Magic: The Gathering (MtG) means to creatively alter game elements to embed urgent real-world ecological narratives into the game’s design.
STRATEGIES: Sustainable Transition for Europe’s Game Industries
Learn everything you need to know about STRATEGIES , the recently started research project, spearheaded by Utrecht University.
“Beavers don’t walk on roads”: Beaver-play for more-than-human cartographies
In this paper, Laura op de Beke, Linas Kristupas Gabrielaitis, Oğuz ‘Oz’ Buruk,Velvet Spors, and Ferran Altarriba Bertran introduce the notion of beaver-play to understand play that challenges spatial conventions, transgresses boundaries, and redraws territories.
Dark seasonality in videogames
"Dark seasonality in videogames" is a chapter in the larger book Changing Seasonality: How Communities are Revising their Seasons, which explores the role of calendars, seasons, and the cultural reaffirmations (or choice not to) thereof.
Ecogames: Playful Perspectives on the Climate Crisis
Ecogames: Playful Perspectives on the Climate Crisis brings together authors who explore the aspects of ecocritical engagement in and through games.
Climate Larps: Environmental Design in Nordic LARP
In an article published in the Journal of Analogue Game Studies Laura op de Beke discusses the role of LARP (Live Action Role Playing) games in understanding the climate crisis. Within the article she explores how the environment is considered and included within the Nordic LARP sphere.