“Change makers don’t understand games; game makers don’t understand change”
Read the Anticiplay blog post written by Joost Vervoort about why policy makers, activists and game developers should “enter each other’s worlds”.
In the media: René Glas in NPO Radio 1’s De Nacht van…
Game researcher René Glas was interviewed by presenter Benji Heerschop on Dutch national radio channel NPO Radio 1 to talk about games within our contemporary society.
Playing the Hidden Curriculum
Playing the Hidden Curriculum: Exposing, materializing and questioning the unwritten rules of higher education is a research project that aims to adress the unwritten social and cultural rules in education, so that the UU will foster its education in a more social and inclusive way.
Research Projects
>> All Research ProjectsToxic Behaviors in Multiplayer Games
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
- Events:
Game Research @Dutch DiGRA 2024 Symposium
- Events, Insights:
Game Research @CHI PLAY 2024!
Shape2Gether - Erasmus+
Shape2Gether: Experiencing the Bochum Summer School
This is a reflection of the third and final “summer” school of the Shape2Gether Erasmus+ project that took place a month ago in Bochum, Germany.
- Education, Events:
Shape2Gether: Experiencing the Malta summer school
- Education, Events:
Shape2Gether: Experiencing the Trondheim Summer School
STRATEGIES
Hybrid Franchise Hacking Workshop (Gamelab x Man Met)
On April 30th 2025, the Utrecht Gamelab and the Manchester Game Centre at Manchester Metropolitan University collaborated on a first-of-its-kind hybrid three-hour co-design workshop, building on the work of Chloe Germaine and Paul Wake on ‘game hacking’ and the ‘franchise hacking’ technique developed by the Utrecht Game Lab on the basis of Germaine and Wake’s
- Education, Events:
Franchise Hacking Workshop (Gamelab x WUR Games Hub)
- In the media, Interview:
In the media: “The game industry emits as much as the whole of The Netherlands”
Crisis to Resilience
Franchise Hacking Workshop (Gamelab x WUR Games Hub)
The workshop is part of the ongoing USO project Crisis to Resilience (2024-2027), which develops and evaluates techniques based on creative practices like game-making and community gardening/biophilia to foster resilience counter climate anxiety as well as other negative climate emotions. The workflow used in this workshop is built on top of free and accessible tools
- Events:
Redesigning Monopoly to Foster Climate Resilience
- Education, Events, Publications:
History of Game Research at Utrecht University
Themes
>> All ThemesGame Technology and AI
Dutch Games Association: Generative AI and Video Games Event @Utrecht University
Everyone seems to have an opinion on generative AI — or at least 99% of Dutch developers do. And for better or worse, it’s clear that GenAI will impact this industry. That’s why Matthijs Dierckx and the Dutch Games Association organized an event about adoption, stance, and the general past, present and future of this
- Events, News:
Game Research @ CHI 2025
- Jobs, News:
PhD Position in Player-Centric Video Game AI
Ethics of Play
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
- Events, Insights:
Game Research @CHI PLAY 2024!
- Events, News, Publications:
Game Research at CHI 2024
Social Games and Play
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.
- Education, Insights, News:
Playing the Hidden Curriculum
- Events, News, Publications:
Game Research at CHI 2024
Games and Sustainability
Shape2Gether: Experiencing the Bochum Summer School
This is a reflection of the third and final “summer” school of the Shape2Gether Erasmus+ project that took place a month ago in Bochum, Germany.
- Education, Events:
Hybrid Franchise Hacking Workshop (Gamelab x Man Met)
- Education, Events:
Franchise Hacking Workshop (Gamelab x WUR Games Hub)
Disciplines
>> All DisciplinesComputer Sciences
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
- Events, News:
Game Research @ CHI 2025
- Insights, News:
Pinball Research at School
History and Art History
New digital escape room MedievalMe brings the Middle Ages to life
How do you spark excitement for medieval history in secondary school students? Sanne Frequin, art historian and Assistant Professor at Utrecht University, has the answer: MedievalMe. This innovative Dutch serious game immerses students in the medieval worldview.
- Education, Events, Publications:
History of Game Research at Utrecht University
Communication Studies
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 –
- Publications:
Article: Digital literacy games: a systematic literature review
- Publications:
Game Research Magazine
Human-computer Interaction
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
- Insights, News:
Pinball Research at School
- Jobs, News:
PhD Position in Player-Centric Video Game AI