Serious Play

In this episode, we speak to C. Thi Nguyen, philosophy professor at University of Utah and author of Games: Agency As Art (OUP, 2020). We discuss point systems; agency in play; rules and constraints; and the problems of gamification. https://objectionable.net/ Games mentioned in this episode: The Mind - https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/244992/mind Sign: A Game about Being Understood - https://thornygames.com/pages/sign Apocalypse World - http://apocalypse-world.com/ Monster of the Week - https://evilhat.com/product/monster-of-the-week/ Night Witches - https://bullypulpitgames.com/games/night-witches/ The Quiet Year - https://buriedwithoutceremony.com/the-quiet-year Microscope - https://www.lamemage.com/microscope/ *** Produced by Dominic O’Key, Asa Roast, Liz Stainforth, and Oliver Thurley. Music by Dominic O’Key.

In this episode, we speak to sociologist Gabriele de Seta about his ethnography of Magic: The Gathering players in Taiwan, and a Nordic LARP as part of an ERC-funded research project on Machine Vision. http://paranom.asia/about/ Games mentioned in this episode Dungeons & Dragons (Wizards of the Coast) Magic: The Gathering (Wizards of the Coast) The Quiet Year (Buried Without Ceremony) Dialect: A Game About Language and How It Dies (Thorny Games) Inhuman Conditions (Tommy Maranges; Cory O'Brien; Mackenzie Schubert) Delve: A Solo Map Drawing Game (Anna Blackwell) Brave Sparrow (Buried Without Ceremony) Thousand Year Old Vampire (Tim Hutchings) Pax Pamir (Cole Wehrle) *** Produced by Dominic O’Key, Asa Roast, Liz Stainforth, and Oliver Thurley. Music by Dominic O’Key.

In this episode, we speak to Natalia Stroika, existential game maker/destroyer and founder of Ludic Liberation.  http://www.ludicliberation.com/  The Lab Report - https://ludicliberation.substack.com/  ***  Games mentioned in this episode  Nomic (Peter Suber, 1982) - http://legacy.earlham.edu/~peters/writing/nomic.htm *** Produced by Dominic O’Key, Asa Roast, Liz Stainforth, and Oliver Thurley. Music by Dominic O’Key.

In this episode, we talk to Jo Lindsay Walton (@jowalton) about the Applied Hope games jam and Utopia on the Tabletop project. Applied Hope: The Solarpunk & Utopias Jam - https://itch.io/jam/applied-hope Sad Press Games - https://sadpress.itch.io/ *** Games mentioned in this episode: "Powered by the Apocalypse" games - http://apocalypse-world.com/ Roots & Flowers - https://thegiftofdice.itch.io/roots-and-flowers Lasers & Feelings - https://johnharper.itch.io/lasers-feelings The Transition Year - https://affinity-games.itch.io/the-transition-year Monster of the Week - https://www.evilhat.com/home/monster-of-the-week/ How to Ooze Charm in the Future - https://paulczege.itch.io/how-to-ooze-charm-in-the-future *** Produced by Dominic O’Key, Asa Roast, Liz Stainforth, and Oliver Thurley.  Music by Dominic O’Key.

In this first episode, we lay out the project at hand: how might tabletop role-playing games (TTRPGs) inform the practice of doing academic research. *** Games mentioned in this episode: Dungeons & Dragons - https://dnd.wizards.com/ MOTHERSHIP - https://www.mothershiprpg.com/ The Quiet Year - https://buriedwithoutceremony.com/the-quiet-year The Veil - https://samjokopublishing.com/products/the-veil-cyberpunk-ttrpg *** Produced by Oliver Thurley, Asa Roast, Liz Stainforth, and Dominic O’Key.  Music by Dominic O’Key.