Center for Game Research

Center for Game Research

The central hub for disseminating game research from Utrecht University

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    • New minor “Games and Play in a Changing Society” open for registration
    • ASS POWER: Gaming at the Theatre
    • Games-related treasures from De Schatkamer
    • Designing Social Interactions
    • Making Game Studies’ Research Practical with Discursive Game Design
  • Most viewed

    • PhD Position in Player-Centric Video Game AI
    • Making Game Studies’ Research Practical with Discursive Game Design
    • Dutch DiGRA Symposium 2025: Futures for Game and Play Research.
    • Game Research Magazine
    • Funded PhD position: Playing the Hidden Curriculum

New minor “Games and Play in a Changing Society” open for registration

Cover image (c) Christopher Paul High via Unsplash. The new curriculum, which replaces the previous minor “Game Studies’, is a transdisciplinary collaboration between the Department of Media & Cultures studies (MCW), the Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development and the Department of Information and Computing Sciences and enables students to analyze games and play in contemporary

08-06-2026 // Education // Criticism and Analysis, Game Design, Games Beyond Entertainment, Play Research, Social Games and Play

ASS POWER: Gaming at the Theatre

A review of Patrick Blenkarn and Milton Lim’s 8 hour revolutionary donkey epic that sits between theatre and videogames. A collective gaming experience that will have you braying heeeee-haaaww while you contemplate issues of labor, automation, violence, and the good life.

03-06-2026 // Insights // Criticism and Analysis, Ethics of Play, Game Design, Games Beyond Entertainment

Games-related treasures from De Schatkamer

On May 26, the Dutch Institute for Sound and Vision launched On May 26, the Dutch Institute for Sound and Vision launched De Schatkamer (‘Treasure Room’), a massive archive of the history of public broadcasting. In it we find a wealth of material related to games. This includes one of the first long documentaries on

28-05-2026 // In the media, News // Criticism and Analysis, Games Beyond Entertainment

Research Projects

>> All Research Projects

ANTICIPLAY

Making Game Studies’ Research Practical with Discursive Game Design

Co-creation of games, participatory design, open dialogue, and social perspective-taking currently lie at the centre of game research at Utrecht University. All these practices are characteristic of Discursive Game Design (DGD), a method that highlights the processes underlying practice-based game research, rather than a final "fixed" product.

Marijn Benschop
02-03-2026 // Insights // Criticism and Analysis, Game Design, Games Beyond Entertainment
  • Education, News:

    Take a course, build a video game, change the world

  • Insights, Longread:

    “Change makers don’t understand games; game makers don’t understand change”

Comenius - Fostering an Open Mind

Open Mind game challenges to look further

From now on, the Open Mind game, a creative educational game in the style of “whodunit”, is available in the Apple App and Google Play store. Students play the game on their own smartphones and receive mysterious messages from an unknown sender. By talking to various characters about their traits, values and beliefs, they have

14-07-2025 // Education, News // Games Beyond Entertainment, Social Games and Play
  • Events, Insights, News:

    Taking Perspectives with Game Design: Teachers wanted for pilot!

  • Insights, Longread, News:

    A new game that opens up your mind

Shape2Gether - Erasmus+

Shape2gether: Sharing our knowledge about discursive game design

Last November Aengus, Isabel and Mick visited two conferences to share some of the outcomes of the Erasmus+ hape2gether project with a broader audience.

Mick Raamsteeboers, Isabel Rump, Aengus Schulte
10-01-2026 // Education, Events // Games and Sustainability, Games Beyond Entertainment
  • Education, Events:

    Shape2Gether: Experiencing the Bochum Summer School

  • Events:

    Shape2Gether – Time for Workshops

Virtual Reality as Empathy Machine

CFP: “VR as Empathy Machine: Media, Migration and the Humanitarian Predicament”

 Book Title: Beyond the Empathy Machine: Critical Perspectives on Virtual Reality  Editors: Professor Sandra Ponzanesi (s.ponzanesi@uu.nl), Dr. Jenny Andrine Madsen Evang (j.a.m.evang@uu.nl), Dr. Wouter Oomen (w.a.oomen@uu.nl), Laurence Herfs (l.l.herfs@uu.nl), and Lisa Burghardt (l.burghardt@uu.nl)  Over the last decade or so, Virtual Reality (VR) has been honed as a new frontier in social tech. From Chris Milk and Gabo

Editorial Team
07-01-2026 // Books // Extended Realities (AR/VR/XR)
  • Events:

    Week of the Game @ Utrecht University

  • Education, Events, Publications:

    History of Game Research at Utrecht University

Themes

>> All Themes

Criticism and Analysis

New minor “Games and Play in a Changing Society” open for registration

Cover image (c) Christopher Paul High via Unsplash. The new curriculum, which replaces the previous minor “Game Studies’, is a transdisciplinary collaboration between the Department of Media & Cultures studies (MCW), the Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development and the Department of Information and Computing Sciences and enables students to analyze games and play in contemporary

08-06-2026 // Education // Criticism and Analysis, Game Design, Games Beyond Entertainment, Play Research, Social Games and Play
  • Insights:

    ASS POWER: Gaming at the Theatre

  • In the media, News:

    Games-related treasures from De Schatkamer

Social Games and Play

Open Mind game challenges to look further

From now on, the Open Mind game, a creative educational game in the style of “whodunit”, is available in the Apple App and Google Play store. Students play the game on their own smartphones and receive mysterious messages from an unknown sender. By talking to various characters about their traits, values and beliefs, they have

14-07-2025 // Education, News // Games Beyond Entertainment, Social Games and Play
  • Events, News:

    Game Research @ CHI 2025

  • Events, Insights:

    Game Research @CHI PLAY 2024!

Play Research

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
  • Events:

    Game Research @Dutch DiGRA 2024 Symposium

  • Insights:

    Game Research @FDG 2024!

Games Beyond Entertainment

ASS POWER: Gaming at the Theatre

A review of Patrick Blenkarn and Milton Lim's 8 hour revolutionary donkey epic that sits between theatre and videogames. A collective gaming experience that will have you braying heeeee-haaaww while you contemplate issues of labor, automation, violence, and the good life.

03-06-2026 // Insights // Criticism and Analysis, Ethics of Play, Game Design, Games Beyond Entertainment
  • In the media, News:

    Games-related treasures from De Schatkamer

  • Insights:

    Designing Social Interactions

Disciplines

>> All Disciplines

Media and Culture Studies

New minor “Games and Play in a Changing Society” open for registration

Cover image (c) Christopher Paul High via Unsplash. The new curriculum, which replaces the previous minor “Game Studies’, is a transdisciplinary collaboration between the Department of Media & Cultures studies (MCW), the Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development and the Department of Information and Computing Sciences and enables students to analyze games and play in contemporary

08-06-2026 // Education // Criticism and Analysis, Game Design, Games Beyond Entertainment, Play Research, Social Games and Play
  • Insights:

    ASS POWER: Gaming at the Theatre

  • In the media, News:

    Games-related treasures from De Schatkamer

Geosciences

Shape2gether: Sharing our knowledge about discursive game design

Last November Aengus, Isabel and Mick visited two conferences to share some of the outcomes of the Erasmus+ hape2gether project with a broader audience.

Mick Raamsteeboers, Isabel Rump, Aengus Schulte
10-01-2026 // Education, Events // Games and Sustainability, Games Beyond Entertainment
  • Events, Insights, News:

    Dutch DiGRA Symposium 2025: Futures for Game and Play Research.

  • Education, Events:

    Shape2Gether: Experiencing the Bochum Summer School

Computer Sciences

Open Mind game challenges to look further

From now on, the Open Mind game, a creative educational game in the style of “whodunit”, is available in the Apple App and Google Play store. Students play the game on their own smartphones and receive mysterious messages from an unknown sender. By talking to various characters about their traits, values and beliefs, they have

14-07-2025 // Education, News // Games Beyond Entertainment, Social Games and Play
  • Events, Insights, News:

    Dutch DiGRA Symposium 2025: Futures for Game and Play Research.

  • Events, News:

    Game Research @ CHI 2025

Anthropology

Jamming for Climate Justice!

How do you simulate a climate crisis? How can you convey an ecocritical message that invites reflection and, perhaps, action? Participants of the Mzansi Game Jam (MGJ) developed games that addressed these questions from various angles.

Marijn Benschop
18-02-2026 // Education, Events, Interview // Criticism and Analysis, Games Beyond Entertainment
  • Events, Insights, News:

    Dutch DiGRA Symposium 2025: Futures for Game and Play Research.

  • Books:

    Book: Toys and Communication

Center for Game Research

Central hub for disseminating high-quality game research from Utrecht University to a diverse audience that includes academics, students, game developers, and journalists.

Contact

Drift 10, 3512 BS Utrecht

The Netherlands

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