Max Haiven, 'Billionaires & Guillotines'
Mar
11
4:00 PM16:00

Max Haiven, 'Billionaires & Guillotines'

  • Manchester Metropolitan University (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS

Join us for a session where we will play and discuss the new board game Billionaires & Guillotines with designer and Canada Research Chair in the Radical Imagination (Lakehead University) Max Haiven.

Billionaires & Guillotines is the billionaire simulator you and your friends have been waiting for! In this board game, 2-5 players will take on the roles of rival plutocrats, competing to accumulate the wealth of the world before their actions trigger a revolution and they all lose… a lot more than their assets.

Will you play the media baron or the property speculator? The aristocrat or the tech overlord? Whoever you play, the aim is to acquire five extravagant assets prized by the super-rich (a mega yacht, a celebrity spouse, art masterpieces and more!) and prevent your opponents from achieving their dreams.

But watch out! As you compete to gobble up ever more resources, crises cascade out of control: wildfires and floods, pandemics and doomsday cults… At the final moment, will you collaborate to put down the rebellions, or escape into your luxury bunker?

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Academic Global Action for a Sustainable Games Industry - 4th Meet-up!
Mar
12
11:00 AM11:00

Academic Global Action for a Sustainable Games Industry - 4th Meet-up!

In this meet-up we will hear about the work of the “Play for the Planet” network at the University of York, in the UK. The Play for the Planet Network is a collaborative initiative, bringing together game designers, researchers, and educators who are passionate about addressing planetary crises through the power of play. Their mission is to explore a diverse range of playful materials—such as digital games, interactive narratives, simulations, and more—as tools for modelling, stimulating discussion, fostering learning, and building connections. We delve into various forms of play, including digital, tabletop (board, card, and role-playing games), physical, and hybrid play, to discover how these mediums can create pleasure, enhance learning, aid decision-making, and deepen empathy towards people, places, and our planet.

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Animoted: An Exhibition
Mar
16
5:00 PM17:00

Animoted: An Exhibition

  • 14 Higher Chatham St England, M15 6ED United Kingdom (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS

Modal is delighted to invite you to the Private View of Animoted, a collection of immersive artworks and projects led by SODA and Manchester Game Centre researcher, Adinda van ’t Klooster, investigating how emotion can be tracked and assessed by machines - and used aesthetically in mapping decisions in interactive artworks and interfaces.  

When? 16 March 2026, 5 - 7pm
Where? Modal Gallery, Ground floor, School of Digital Arts (SODA), Manchester Metropolitan University. 

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XR Meets Cybersecurity - An Immersive Game for Cybersecurity Training
Mar
24
4:00 PM16:00

XR Meets Cybersecurity - An Immersive Game for Cybersecurity Training

Visiting scholar Tonia San Nicolas-Rocca will introduce the design of an extended reality (XR) immersive training game that integrates foundational cybersecurity concepts. The proposed system is aligned with the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education (NICE) Workforce Framework for Cybersecurity and the National Centers of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense (NCAE-C) guidelines. By leveraging XR technologies, the training game seeks to enhance cybersecurity awareness, strengthen workforce readiness, and foster broader interest in careers within the cybersecurity field.

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Multiplatform 2026: Poetry in Games/ Games in Poetry
Jun
11
to Jun 12

Multiplatform 2026: Poetry in Games/ Games in Poetry

  • Manchester Metropolitan University (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS

Multiplatform is the annual Manchester Game Centre symposium dedicated to analogue and digital game studies and practice. In 2026, we turn to the lively, uneasy, and productive overlaps between poetry and games: poems as playable systems; games as lyric objects; constraints, procedures, and code as compositional practices; and the long history of poetic play that sits behind (and alongside) contemporary videogame forms. Across literary history, poetry has repeatedly organised itself around rule-sets, patterned repetition, score-like structures, and performative address. Across game history, play has repeatedly leaned on language, voice, rhythm, and symbolic density. This symposium takes those overlaps seriously as method, as form, and as cultural practice.

Check out our Call for Papers….

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Moneyball, but for kids: Games as vehicles for predatory prediction markets
Jun
14
to Jun 18

Moneyball, but for kids: Games as vehicles for predatory prediction markets

At DiGRA 2026, MGC member Daniel Joseph will present a paper, together with Florence Chee (Loyola University), entitled ‘Moneyball, but for kids: Games as vehicles for predatory prediction markets‘. Their study of prediction markets is an opportunity to see where digital games are going next, and to ask ourselves what role we will play in the pleasure and pain of our collective future.

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Storytellers and Machines 2026: The End of AI
Jul
8
to Jul 9

Storytellers and Machines 2026: The End of AI

The Storytellers + Machines 2026 conference on creative A.I. and AI cultures returns to SODA and Manchester School of Art. Since 2023, the event series has led debate on the use of A.I. in arts and culture, focusing on artistic practice and the creative industries. Now, as an artistic and academic community, we speculate, imagine, and perhaps plot the end of A.I. and wonder what might follow.

 Over two days, keynotes, paper presentations, exhibited works, and evening performances will give conference attendees an opportunity to explore, champion and challenge the use of A.I. in creative settings. Panels will present and discuss concerns about the impact of A.I. on media producers and their audiences in disciplines such as games, music and film. The event will prompt us to imagine what a post-A.I. cultural and creative sector might look like — and will conclude with debate and a symbolic vote on whether to save or end creative A.I.

Storytellers + Machines 2026 is organised by the SODA Speculative Technologies Group in collaboration with Manchester Games Centre.

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Dementia games workshop
Mar
3
10:00 AM10:00

Dementia games workshop

Join us for an interactive session on creating games for dementia care. The session is led by Dr Marlene Rosa, an adjunct professor in the Physiotherapy program/Master's Degree in Physiotherapy and Palliative Care at the School of Health Sciences from the Polytechnic Institute of Leiria, with a particular interest in developing and validating game-based strategies. The session will including playtesting of existing games before stepping through the design process of creating a new approach for the future. 

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SUPER NINTENDO: Keza MacDonald in conversation
Mar
2
6:30 PM18:30

SUPER NINTENDO: Keza MacDonald in conversation

At Manchester Blackwell's on 2nd March, Keza Macdonald will be discussing Super Nintendo; a joyous exploration of the cultural phenomenon that created Mario, Zelda and Pokémon. Keza will be in conversation with the Manchester Game Centre's Reuben Martens.

Doors: 6.30pm, starts: 6.45pm

Tickets are £4. Admission is free when purchasing a copy of the book in advance. Get your tickets from Eventbrite.

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Tabletop Ecologies: Eco-Analog Play and Planetary Futurity
Feb
12
3:00 PM15:00

Tabletop Ecologies: Eco-Analog Play and Planetary Futurity

  • Manchester Metropolitan University (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS

Florian Wagner’s talk will explore the generative and transformative potential of eco-board and tabletop games in shaping ecological thought and practices, reflecting on human and more-than-human entanglements, and promoting critical engagement with visions and questions of planetary habitability and futurity.

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Games AI: Sustainability challenges and trajectories
Feb
10
10:00 AM10:00

Games AI: Sustainability challenges and trajectories

In this meetup, MGC researcher, Chloé Germaine, will represent the Sustainable Games Alliance and the STRATEGIES project. We present the findings of two research projects on the impact of AI on sustainability goals, aiming to equip developers with the knowledge that can help align the use of these technologies with sustainability.

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Is this still play? Ethnographic Perspectives on Deep, Dark or Serious Play
Feb
7
12:00 PM12:00

Is this still play? Ethnographic Perspectives on Deep, Dark or Serious Play

Chloe Germaine, co-lead of the Manchester Game Centre will be delivering a workshop on their card game Happy Shoppers at Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz this February.

The workshop forms part of the international symposium, “Is this still play? Ethnographic perspectives on deep, dark or serious play,” taking place in the Department of Anthropology and African Studies, JGU Mainz, 6–7 February 2026. The event is organised by Jan Beek and Konstanze N’Guessan and brings together international scholars to explore dark, deep, and serious forms of play as lenses for understanding power, politics, and contemporary life.

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Imagining Ancient Egypt in Video Games
Dec
10
10:00 PM22:00

Imagining Ancient Egypt in Video Games

ARISE conference
9pm GMT (6pm BST)
10th December 2025

MGC member Jenny Cromwell will be delivering her keynote talk at the online ARISE conference, the 1st Brazilian Congress of Digital Archaeology (Brazil).

Abstract: Imagining Ancient Egypt in Video Games
When thinking about ancient Egypt in video games, the first games that probably come to mind for many people are Sid Meier’s Civilisation, Total War: Pharaoh, and Assassin’s Creed Origins. That is, games in which the events take place entirely in their ancient setting (or mostly, in the case of Origins) and on a scale that allows detailed depictions of Egyptian history and culture. But these aspects also occur if multiple ways in a diverse range of games that are not necessarily obvious ‘ancient Egypt games’. This talk will focus in particular on these not-ancient-Egypt games, examining the ways in which Egypt is integrated in different settings, and how it is used to construct fictional worlds. In so doing, it will analyse the ways in which Egypt is (re)imagined in a modern context, and what this reveals about contemporary understandings of its history.

(image: The Talos Principle [Croteam/Devolver, 2014])

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Beyond the sandboxes and magic circles: Conversations on the pleasure and pain of what it means to engage in the study of games
Nov
14
11:00 AM11:00

Beyond the sandboxes and magic circles: Conversations on the pleasure and pain of what it means to engage in the study of games

Public Talk on Games with Dr. Florence M. Chee
Organised by the Digital Society Research Group (DISC)

Friday 14 November 11:00-12:00; MMU, Geoffrey Manton Building LT5

 In this talk, Prof. Dr. Florence Chee will provide an overview to essential debates in games/gaming as they intersect with ethics, law, and policy, along with what it means to research games through academia, industry and government in today's global regulatory landscape. Through her studies on game culture, to ethics and data, to AI and governance, she tells a story of navigating an industry as it struggles to define itself locally and globally while those in it advance the narrative of pleasure and play across domains. Looking ahead, she asks the audience to consider the ways constituencies may reclaim what it means to truly play meaningfully and ways to resist "getting played."

Florence M. Chee is Associate Professor of Digital Communication in the School of Communication, Affiliate Faculty in the Department of Computer Science, and Director of the Center for Digital Ethics and Policy (CDEP) at Loyola University Chicago. Internationally and nationally sought out as a speaker, writer, and advisor, her sociotechnical interventions inform and influence decisions made in design, development, and policy arenas. This year, she has been named to the Fulbright Specialist Roster for 2025-2028 and has recently focused on the US and Swiss game industries while serving on grant funded work in Switzerland. Florence Chee is founding director of the Social & Interactive Media Lab (SIMLab) based in Chicago, USA.

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Preservation By Record: Video Game Archaeology as Play Preservation
Nov
12
4:00 PM16:00

Preservation By Record: Video Game Archaeology as Play Preservation

MMU, Geoffrey Manton 327
4.00–5.30pm
Florence Smith Nicholls (Queen Mary University)

Video game archaeology, or archaeogaming, broadly refers to the study of how the past is represented in the medium, retro-engineering games through code archaeology, and conducting fieldwork in digital space. My doctoral work has specialised in the latter area. In this talk I will present the three main case studies from this research; an archaeological survey of player messages in Elden Ring, in-game interviews in the MMO Wurm Online, and a player study of an archaeology game I co-developed called Nothing Beside Remains.
While much discussion about video game preservation focuses on access to original hardware and software, it's important to preserve the social and historical context in which games are played as well. This work represents my development of novel methodologies for recording play experiences.  I will also reflect on the importance of recording and disseminating my research through physical media, such as zines. 

Bio:

Florence Smith Nicholls is a PhD researcher in video game archaeology at Queen Mary University of London. Prior to their doctoral studies they worked as an archaeologist for Museum of London Archaeology. They are also a game writer, designer and larpwright; they were a Story Tech at the indie studio Die Gute Fabrik, and ran a sci-fi larp, Funeral for an AI God, at the Stockholm Scenario Festival. Check out Florence’s website here.

A stack of lil zines

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Masterclass on AI Ethics
Nov
12
10:00 AM10:00

Masterclass on AI Ethics

Masterclass on AI Ethics with Dr. Florence M. Chee
Organised by the Digital Society Research Group (DISC)
Wednesday 12 November 10:00-12:00; MMU, GE 206

 In this Masterclass on AI Ethics, we will take an inquiry stance through the lens of games to examine how ethical dilemmas, policies, and governance solutions have taken effect both at individual and institutional levels. The issues in AI Ethics that require the most urgent action implicate systems and regulations that are already in place and affect us in everyday life. We will discuss ways that attendees may apply the insights derived from this session towards fostering more ethical engagement in their respective contexts of work, rest, and play.

 

Florence M. Chee is Associate Professor of Digital Communication in the School of Communication, Affiliate Faculty in the Department of Computer Science, and Director of the Center for Digital Ethics and Policy (CDEP) at Loyola University Chicago. Internationally and nationally sought out as a speaker, writer, and advisor, her sociotechnical interventions inform and influence decisions made in design, development, and policy arenas. This year, she has been named to the Fulbright Specialist Roster for 2025-2028 and has recently focused on the US and Swiss game industries while serving on grant funded work in Switzerland. Florence Chee is founding director of the Social & Interactive Media Lab (SIMLab) based in Chicago, USA.

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Gaming and Teaching: games as creative practice in teaching and research
Nov
7
2:00 PM14:00

Gaming and Teaching: games as creative practice in teaching and research

Seminar at the University of Copenhagen, Department of Cross-cultural and Regional Studies (ToRS) by Jenny Cromwell
Friday 7th November 2025, 2.00pm

At this seminar, MGC member Jenny Cromwell will discuss the work undertaken on her third-year undergraduate module, ‘Gaming and the Humanities’, which is open to all students in the School of History, Politics, and Philosophy at MMU. Specific focus will be on the use of games to think about and explore diverse topics, around which concept the module assessment is designed (to pitch a game idea based on an individually selected research topic, and provide the academic foundation behind the game). The talk will end with a discussion about how this pedagogic practice has impacted her approach to her own research, and game design as a creative research method.

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Crtl Alt Work
Oct
21
to Oct 23

Crtl Alt Work

Explore work’s joys, pressures & routines through indie games in three interactive workshops!

Where: Pixel Bar Manchester, 10 Thomas Street Manchester M4 1DH
When: Tuesday 21st October & Thursday 30th October (Time: 5pm-7pm both dates)

What can video games tell us about working life?

Join us for a series of three in-person workshops where we’ll explore the routines, joys, and pressures of work through short, thought-provoking indie games and boardgames for those who prefer them!

Each session focuses on a different aspect of labour:

  • Mundane – games that reflect the repetition and routine of everyday jobs.

  • Pleasure – games that highlight meaning, care, and joy in work.

  • Power – games that confront inequality, control, and economic systems.

No gaming experience is required—just curiosity. You’ll have the chance to play, reflect, and discuss with others in a relaxed, welcoming environment.

Games include: Every Day the same Dream, Venba, Papers, Please, and more.

Free and open to all. Laptops and games will be provided.

This event is part of the ESRC Festival of Social Science 2025 and was made possible thanks to funding from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), which is part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). The event is co-organised by Kumru Akdogan (UoM) and Jack Warren (MMU).

For further details, and to book tickets visit the Eventbrite page.

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Games Workshop Research Day 2025
Oct
11
9:30 AM09:30

Games Workshop Research Day 2025

  • International Anthony Burgess Foundation (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS

We are pleased to announce that our second annual Games Workshop Research Day is taking place on Saturday 11th October 2025!

For its second outing the event will run all day from 9:30 until 20:30 and has three parts. The morning will be dedicated to talks about Games Workshop’s games, the afternoon will be a ‘playable exhibition’ in which we pair gaming with presentations, and the day will conclude with a social evening of sporting mayhem as we come together to watch Blood Bowl played live.

Join us at the International Anthony Burgess Foundation in Manchester for a day of talks and gaming. This event is free and is open to everyone.  Places are limited. Please book your ticket by clicking the link below:

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Alex Kelly - Bunker Talk #154
Sep
23
5:30 PM17:30

Alex Kelly - Bunker Talk #154

The Manchester School of Art presents a talk from Alex Kelly, theatre & games maker, writer, performer and mentor. Alex creates performance and participatory projects that connect the territories of theatre, games, conversation, installation and digital media. Since 2023 he has been making projects under the name Voyager 3.

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Otherworldly Entertainment: A Conference on Horror, Magic, Gothic, and the Occult in Video Games
Aug
13
to Aug 15

Otherworldly Entertainment: A Conference on Horror, Magic, Gothic, and the Occult in Video Games

Centre member Matteo Polato will present at ‘Otherworldly Entertainment’, a conference organised by the Dark Arts Research Group and the Digital Cultures and Languages research group in the Department of English, Germanic, and Romance Studies at the University of Copenhagen. Matteo will speak on the panel ‘Glitching Nightmares’ about his research on Pokémon: “A One-Way Route to Lavendertown: Glitches and Hardware Misuses as the Source of Pokémon Horror Urban Legends”.

Learn more
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Glasgow Indie Games Fest
Aug
9
9:30 AM09:30

Glasgow Indie Games Fest

How a Body Sounds, created by Game Centre member Matteo Polato and Jacopo Bortolussi (as Yami Kurae), is one of the games on show at the Glasgow Indie Games Fest. How A Body Sounds is a lore-rich, experimental exploration game for GameBoy Color. It is based on psychogeographical explorations of real world spaces, and is part of a larger project by Yami Kurae that you can read more about here.
You can play the game yourself either on GameBoy Color hardware, Analogue Pocket, GB emulators, or browser. Check it out here.

Learn more
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13th International Conference on Serious Games and Applications for Health
Aug
6
to Aug 8

13th International Conference on Serious Games and Applications for Health

  • Manchester Metropolitan University (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS

The 13th International Conference on Serious Games and Applications for Health is set to take place in Manchester, United Kingdom, between the 6th and 8th of August, at the Manchester Metropolitan University. At the heart of the SEGAH conference lies a commitment to advancing the field of health and healthcare through innovative solutions and technologies.

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Interactive Games Postgraduate Research Conference 2025 at York St John University
Jul
18
10:00 AM10:00

Interactive Games Postgraduate Research Conference 2025 at York St John University

The investigate.games research group based at YSJ is pleased to be organising the Interactive Games PGR Conference again for 2025. The event will feature keynote speakers from leading experts in the field, including Manchester Game Centre co-lead, Dr Chloé Germaine, who will be talking about her creative research, ‘Playing, Making and Breaking - Research with Games’, as a keynote address. The event also features the Manchester Game Centre research assistant, Samuel Ethan Jolly, who will be presenting his work on ‘Historical Ludo-Narratives: Turning the Past into Play’.

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Haunted Modernities, Present Pasts, and Spectral Futures
Jul
16
to Jul 18

Haunted Modernities, Present Pasts, and Spectral Futures

  • Falmouth University (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS

Centre member Matteo Polato will present at the ‘Haunted Modernities’ conference at Falmouth University, an event that explores haunted modernities and spectral futures, looking back to the past as a haunted space and forward to the ‘spectres’ of the future. Matteo will present the latest developments in Real Engine, a collaborative project with Jacopo Bortolussi that explores the intersections of videogame development, psychogeography, and contemporary occultural practices. He will discuss the process of real-world exploration and lore-making that led to their latest game, How a Body Sounds.

‘Haunted Modernities’ is the latest annual conference of the Dark Economies Scholarly Association (DESA), which explores the story-worlds we create to express our fears and anxieties through representations and fictions about topics such as death, crime, the Gothic, horror, AI and technology, landscapes (rural, urban, mythical, supernatural), folklore, and the occult.

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Ecosocialist Play - Panel at Games Transformed Festival
Jul
12
11:00 AM11:00

Ecosocialist Play - Panel at Games Transformed Festival

Join game designers Matteo Menapace, Paolo Pedercini (Molleindustria, CMU), and Manchester Game Centre researcher, Chloé Germaine, as we discuss our work at the intersection of games and ecosocialist politics.

We will explore how games can be made, played, and hacked ecologically. And we'll have lots of time for your questions! Our chat is part of Games Transformed, a festival of games and progressive politics.

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Collective Atmospheres: 2025 ASLE Conference
Jul
8
to Jul 11

Collective Atmospheres: 2025 ASLE Conference

Collective Atmospheres. The Association for the Study of Literature and Environment (ASLE) 2025 Conference seeks to inspire and promote intellectual work in the environmental humanities and arts. Their vision is an inclusive community whose members are committed to environmental research, education, literature, art and service, environmental justice, and ecological sustainability. At this year’s conference, Centre member Reuben Martens will present a paper titled ‘Mako Metaphors: Final Fantasy VII Remake/Rebirth’s Eco-Revolution in the Activist Era’ on a panel called “Playing Video and Board Games in Climate and Energy Studies — Roundtable (Pedagogy, Public Engagement, and Activism); Panel Chair: Debby Rosenthal, John Carroll University”.

ASLE is a vibrant international community of scholars and teachers working across the humanities and arts, representing a variety of disciplines including literature, history, philosophy, environmental studies, cultural geography, film and media, cultural studies, women and gender studies, religious studies, ethnography, psychology, and anthropology. There are localised international ASLE collectives around the world, such as ASLE-UKI, ASLE Japan, ALECC (Canada), ASLE Brazil, etc., which probably makes ASLE the largest collective of scholars working on environmental themes in the humanities in the world.

You can read more about 2025’s conference here.

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Playful Learning 2025
Jul
2
to Jul 4

Playful Learning 2025

Join Manchester Game Centre’s lead for Education and Pedagogy, Dr John Lean, at this year’s Playful Learning Conference in Brighton.

Playful Learning is pitched at the intersection of learning and play for adults. Playful in approach and outlook, yet underpinned by robust research and working practices, we provide a space where teachers, researchers and students can play, learn and think together. A space to meet other playful people and be inspired by talks, workshops, activities and events. In its new home on the South Coast of England in Brighton, we have spaces that open the programme up to both indoor and outdoor activities, and evening activities that continue the playful learning and conversations after the formal programme ends.

Playful Learning will take place on 2nd – 4th July 2025 at the University of Sussex in Brighton and our theme is 🥸 Surprise and Disguise. Sign-up here for notifications.

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Creative Methodologies: Practical Play and Media Multiplicities
Jul
2
to Jul 3

Creative Methodologies: Practical Play and Media Multiplicities

  • University of Sunderland (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS

Creative Methodologies: Practical Play and Media Multiplicities 

A conference organised by the University of Sunderland in association with the Media, Communication and Cultural Studies Association. 

Manchester Game Centre are pleased to share details of the Creative Methodologies conference, organised by Dr Stephanie Farnsworth at the University of Sunderland. Creative Methodologies: Practical Play and Media Multiplicities is a two-day event, examining methodologies of practice-based media research, from podcasts to games making.

The keynote speakers for this event are: Lance Dann (The University of Brighton), Chloe Germaine (Manchester Metropolitan University and the Manchester Game Centre) and Nick Lewis (The University of Sunderland). 

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'Gaming' History – Durham University
Jun
26
to Jun 27

'Gaming' History – Durham University

  • Google Calendar ICS

Centre member, Jenny Cromwell, will be attending the interactive workshop, ‘Gaming history’ at Durham University, which will explore and address the relationship between games, historians, and designers. Despite the global importance of the gaming industry, and the centrality of videogames and contemporary analogue games as cultural artefacts in the modern world, historians beyond Historical Game Studies have often failed to consider games seriously as historical sources, while games industry professionals rarely engage with explicit historical methodologies when designing games set in the past. The workshop brings together academics, independent scholars, and games industry professionals and has a twofold purpose:

  • To consider theoretical frameworks for treating games as historical sources

  • To explore how we can improve or build responsible historical methods in games development, including education

You can read more about the ‘Gaming History’ project at Durham, led by Helen Roche and Ladan Cockshut here.

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