Make/Play Symposium - Games as Research Method. Call for Papers - Two Days to Go!

The Make/Play symposium will occur in person at Abertay University in Dundee hosted by Abertay Game Lab and the Manchester Game Centre. Hybrid attendance will be supported. Our Call for Papers closes on 31st October. Find out more…..

Within academia, games and play are often used as vehicles for research dissemination; a tool that engages stakeholders and the public with serious matters in an accessible and inviting way. Games are also used as a “creative method” and deployed in participatory research to gather data. The practice of creating games as research, however, is less well examined, particularly the knowledge drawn from and during the creative process. Often scholars find themselves turning to other fields to make sense of or validate the production of games as a research approach, straying into psychology, Human-Computer Interaction and sociology, rather than drawing insights from within game studies or the practice of critical design.

This symposium seeks to bring together designers and academics to unpick the methodologies, documentation and dissemination of games production as research and invites proposals which may consider (but not limited to) the design and/or practice of games making within the following areas:

  • Applied and serious games

  • Games, culture and society

  • Historical and heritage games

  • Lived experience in games

  • Autobiographical game design

  • Social play

  • Physical play

  • Folk games

  • Alternative controllers

  • Asymmetrical and hybrid design

  • Larp design

  • Performance and play

  • Experimental design

  • Engaging with audiences

  • Critical or Radical Design approaches

  • Hacking, Hackathons and Hacktivism

We invite paper proposals for 20-minute presentations and exhibitions proposals of games and play that align to the symposia themes.

Register Free

MAKE/PLAY Submission Information

1. For paper submissions, please submit

  • Paper Title

  • Abstract of 250 words for a 20-minute presentation

  • A biographical statement, up to 100 words

  • Complete contact information, including name, institutional affiliation (if any), postal address, e-mail address(es) and telephone number(s).

2. For practice submissions, please submit

  • Practice title

  • An outline your work in the form of a 250-word abstract

  • Specifications for exhibition including: space requirements, equipment requirements (to be provided by MAKE PLAY)

  • Links to imagery or video documentation showcasing the work or the look/feel/experience the work will take if in development.

  • A biographical statement, up to 100 words.

  • Complete contact information, including name, institutional affiliation (if any), postal address, e-mail address(es) and telephone number(s).

All abstracts should be submitted to the following link by 23:59 on Friday 31st October 2025.

Submit Your Paper

Papers will be selected via a blind peer reviewed panel and successful speakers notified by Friday 7th November 2025.

Abstracts will be published in a digital conference booklet, and discussions are in progress to secure a journal special issue in line with the themes of this event.

We warmly encourage paper submissions by practitioners working in academia, postgraduate and early career researchers.

Please contact the MAKE PLAY co-chair, Dr Lynn Love with enquiries: l.love@abertay.ac.uk.

Chloe Germaine