We all want to make games that not only appeal to players, but help them experience unique moments of gameplay. Typically in games education, ‘meaningful experiences’ are linked to systems that give good and consistent feedback to players’ actions within a ‘closed system’ approach to design. However, this approach does not fully account for what the player brings to the game. It is not the developers that create unique experiences for the players, it is the players themselves through the act of play. This calls for a new approach to understanding how to make gameplay meaningful; what is it that makes players fall in love with a game or become loyal to a franchise?

This workshop will be a collaborative effort to understand this new approach. Participants will engage with such questions as:

– How can you design or write for people whose perspective you cannot know?
– How are you trained to react to players playing your game wrong?
– What are you generally not learning in games education and events such as these?
– How can we visualize new approaches to encouraging player engagement?