This one-day 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.
Coordinators: Hailey Austin (Abertay University), Mona Bozdog (Abertay University), Chloé Germaine (Manchester Metropolitan University) Lynn Love (Abertay University), and Paul Wake (Manchester Metropolitan University).
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.
3rd Annual UK Game Lab Meet up
Following MAKE/PLAY on Friday 28th November, Abertay will host the 2025 UK Game Lab meet up. This is the 3rd annual meet-up for representatives in game research labs across the UK. In previous years it has been chaired by the Bristol Digital Game Lab and the Manchester Game Centre. This year’s event will be chaired by Abertay University.
Participants in MAKE/PLAY are invited to indicate their interests in joining this event.
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 24th October 2025:
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.