Opening Keynote

Tuesday, October 10th, 2023 5:30pm – 6:30pm (EDT)

Tanya X. Short

Tanya X. Short is the Captain of Kitfox Games and served as the primary designer on Boyfriend Dungeon and Moon Hunters, as well as the publishing head, overseeing publishing games like Dwarf Fortress, Caves of Qud, Pupperazzi, and more. Her first job in the industry was as a production assistant in the Halo 2 marketing campaign in 2003, “ilovebees”. She is also the co-founder and co-director of Pixelles, a feminist non-profit aiming to change games culture, and has edited two textbooks with CRC Press, Procedural Generation in Game Design and Procedural Storytelling in Game Design. In 2022, she co-founded the world’s foremost annual game design retreat, Polaris.

Keynote: Work Healthy, Play Healthy

It is a common irony that game designers often feel they have fallen out of love with the playing of games; in fact, adults of every industry may feel they have no time for play at all. This talk “Work Healthy, Play Healthy” describes the playful philosophy and practices of a small but thriving independent games studio and its leadership. Drawing from twenty years of experience in the games industry, Tanya X. Short shows how regular indulgence in play and playfulness is not only essential to success and happiness, but a moral imperative and a necessary ingredient in human growth. Decrying the protestant work ethic explicitly, “Work Healthy, Play Healthy” outlines both personal and structural approaches to the pursuit of sustainable, lifelong productivity and happiness in the making of games. With this lens, as one example, the ‘fail fast’ directive of entrepreneurs becomes reinterpreted as a command to play, which always has permission to fail. Tanya X. Short emphasizes the psychological and nigh-spiritual benefits of self-directed play at every level, in all of her roles, from CEO to game designer to activist to mother. This talk provides tools for professionals of all stripes to create windows of workful play.

Important Dates:

(all times are 23:59 AoE)

Attendance

September 10th, 2023Early Bird Registration
From September 11th, 2023Regular Registration

Full Papers (Journal Articles)

February 21st, 2023Submission deadline
April 21st, 2023First-round notification
June 2nd, 2023Revisions due
July 7th, 2023Final notifications given
August 10th, 2023Camera-ready deadline
August 10th, 2023Video Presentation deadline

Work in Progress

June 22nd, 2023Submission deadline
August 3rd, 2023Notification
August 24th, 2023Camera-ready deadline

Perspectives on Play

June 22nd, 2023Submission deadline
August 3rd, 2023Notification
August 24th, 2023Camera-ready deadline

Student Game Design Competition

June 22nd, 2023Submission deadline
August 3rd, 2023Notification
August 24th, 2023Camera-ready deadline

Interactivity Track

June 22nd, 2023Submission deadline
August 3rd, 2023Notification
August 24th, 2023Camera-ready deadline

Connections Track

June 22nd, 2023Submission deadline
August 3rd, 2023Notification
August 24th, 2023Camera-ready deadline

Doctoral Consortium

June 22nd, 2023Submission deadline
August 3rd, 2023Notification
August 31st, 2023Revised video deadline

Student Volunteer

August 6th, 2023Application deadline
August 11th, 2023Notification

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