Board games serve many important purposes outside of entertainment. They are a uniquely social activity that allows for people to gather around a shared space and learn about how both they and their social partners cooperate and compete with one another. For this reason, board games may be an important social activity for autistic people who thrive in structured, rules-based activities and often have heightened interests (which overlap with board game themes). In this talk we will report findings from a series of studies examining the overlap between autism and hobbyist board gaming. We will also be presenting some initial findings on some pilot work using Dixit for therapeutic purposes and lastly on a large data set which reports a wide array of board gamer demographics as well as motivations and preferences in the hobby. This may be of use for game designers as well as those interested in using board games for educational or therapeutic populations, in making choices targeted for specific populations.
Join Dr Liam Cross, Dr Gray Atherton and Emily Dawson as they talk to Manchester Game Centre about the results of their research project, which was funded by Game in Lab.
This event is hybrid. It will take place at Manchester Metropolitan University (Geoffrey Manton Building Room 104) and online via zoom.