Games and Probation

Games Lab is a new fortnightly seminar series from the MGSN in which we invite Network members and associates to speak about their work. The inaugural seminar was led by Network member Hwa Young and Dr Emma Murray, a Senior Lecturer in Criminal Justice from Liverpool John Moores University, both of whom presented an overview of their collaborative project Probationary: The Game of Life on License.

Produced through workshops with men on license, Probationary explores the lived experience of being on probation. In this seminar, which can be viewed in full below, Hwa and Emma took us on a fascinating discussion of the game’s development, and with it their own (often very different) interpretation of what the game is and is not. This open and frank exchange of opinions led to further debate about what constitutes a game, and the difficulties of working within and across academia.