Upcoming: Women in Games Meet the Winners Series

Happy to be interviewed in the Women in Games Global Games Awards Meet the Winners Series, coming up tomorrow! July 1st at 1 PM EST. Find out when the stream is starting on the Women in Games Twitch channel at www.twitch.tv/wigj

Last week, I spoke at the Serious Play Conference on Design Principles for Early Education Apps.  In addition to new recommendations, I echoed what I've been saying in "What's Wrong with Pre-K Game Apps."

When asked for apps that I've been excited about, I praised Dragonbox Big Numbers and Bedtime Math.  

Instead of a bedtime story, why not a bedtime math problem? What do you think?

Upcoming CIMFest Keynote: Flavored by Authenticity

Hi!  If you missed our SXSW panel, you can catch it here on the SXSW 2021 YouTube channel.  It's completely different from the LudoNarraCon one even though the topic is the same.  There was just so much more to talk about emotional touchstones in emergent narrative!

If you want to know more about touchstones (Touchstones! Touchstones! Touchstones!), this Saturday June 12, 2021, we are headlining the Georgia Game Developers Association CIMFest and I also will be moderating IGDA GDSIG's skipped (due to the cancellation of GDC last year) roundtable, Creating Non-Toxic Gamer Communities.

Watch it for free on www.youtube.com/GeorgiaGameDevs 

Here's the deets!

Roundtable: Creating Non-Toxic Gamer Communities (1 PM Eastern)

What game design principles can be used to promote friendlier and harassment-free communities? Join us for a discussion on what strategies game designers can use to create safe virtual spaces that are enjoyable for all players. In particular, we focus on game mechanics that encourage community-oriented behaviors, the pros and cons of automated reporting, and how to minimize griefing.

 

Keynote Panel: Flavored by Authenticity: How Personal Experiences Amplify Narrative (3 PM Eastern)

Digital storytelling is a currently evolving medium and the push-and-pull nature of player interaction in video games provides an opportunity for the inclusion of personal touchstones in order to more deeply connect with and engage a broad audience. Over the past decade, there has been an increase in the examination of personal narrative elements as methods of engagement in teaching and community building, most notably by contributing a level of accessible authenticity. 

This keynote examines how personal narratives inform narrative and character design as a whole in a game or virtual setting, Join us for a look at moments in popular games informed by personal narrative, from the indie to the AAA level, and reflect on steps that might be taken in order to retain authenticity while avoiding the pitfalls that naturally come with the wholesale creation of fantastic and fictional spaces. 

Sande Chen

Profiled as one of the Game Industry's Top 100 Most Influential Women and a 2020 Women in Games Global Hall of Fame winner, Sande Chen is a writer and game designer with over 15 years of experience in the industry. Her writing credits include 1999 Independent Games Festival winner Terminus and the PC RPG of the Year, The Witcher, for which she was nominated for a 2007 Writers Guild Award in Videogame Writing. She is the co-author of Serious Games: Games That Educate, Train, and Inform and was a contributor to Secrets of the Game Business, Writing For Video Game Genres, and Professional Techniques for Videogame Writing. She has been a speaker at numerous game-related conferences, including the Game Developers Conference, NY Comic Con, PAX East, and SXSW. She has been invited to the White House and represented the USA at the World Conference on Science Literacy. She also has a Grammy nomination.

Matthew Farber

Matthew Farber, Ed.D. is an assistant professor at the University of Northern Colorado, where he founded the Gaming SEL Lab. He has been invited to the White House, authored several books and papers, and is a frequent collaborator with UNESCO and Games for Change. His latest book is Gaming SEL: Games as Transformational to Social and Emotional Learning (bit.ly/GamingSEL). For more, please visit MatthewFarber.com.

Juliana Loh

Juliana Loh is an independent Producer/Artist whose background includes branded entertainment, UX and art direction. In addition to developing educational/gaming experiences, she has honed her artistic skills as a concept and gallery-showing artist while pioneering, empowering and supporting grassroots tech meetups and communities. Currently working as an instructor and immersive artist, she is keenly aware of how emerging technology is changing the way we relate to each other. She is currently designing story-based Pro-Kindness Workshops using VR360 based on user-centered design thinking.

Kimberly Unger 

Kimberly made her first videogame back when the 80-column card was the new hot thing and after 20+ years as a pro in that industry, the magic still hasn’t faded. Now she sources leading-edge content for Oculus, lectures on the intersection of art and code for UCSC in Games and Playable Media, wrangles a monthly column on science-fiction in videogames over at Amazing Stories and writes science fiction about how all these app-driven superpowers are going to change the human race. Her debut sci-fi novel, NUCLEATION is available now on Amazon and her next novel The Extractionist will be available in November of 2021. You can find her on Twitter at @Ing3nu or on her blog at www.ungerink.com.

Upcoming: Together apART: Creating During COVID

Hello! I will be one of the artists participating in ArtsWestchester's Together apART: Creating During COVID exhibition, opening May 7. There will be a parallel digital exhibition at http://artsw.org/togetherapart

One year after the start of the pandemic, ArtsWestchester plans on reopening its gallery doors to the public for the Together apART exhibition. It features more than 250 works of artwork by Hudson Valley artists in the form of sculpture, painting, photography, sewing, pottery, handicrafts, and writing. All were created in response to the pandemic and subsequent lockdown. 

Entry is free, with a suggested donation of $5. Social distancing and face masks will be required. Visitors will be coming at staggered entry times, so RSVP'ing through EventBrite is necessary.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/together-apart-creating-during-covid-tickets-150269583369

I am absolutely thrilled to be part of this vibrant and active arts community.

Sande Chen is a writer and game designer with over 15 years of experience in the game industry. Her writing credits include 1999 Independent Games Festival winner Terminus, MMO Hall of Fame inductee Wizard101, and the 2007 PC RPG of the Year, The Witcher, for which she was nominated for a Writers Guild of America Award in Videogame Writing. She is the co-author of the book, Serious Games: Games That Educate, Train, and Inform, and was a contributor to Secrets of the Game Business, Writing For Video Game Genres, and Professional Techniques for Videogame Writing.

Upcoming Panel at SCAD Gaming Fest

Hi!  If you missed it, the SXSW Online 2021 panel, Creating Touchstones in Emergent Narrative, is still up on-demand for pass holders. 

I'll be speaking on a panel, Screenwriting for Games: The Challenge of Choice-Based Narratives, next week at SCAD Gaming Fest along with Patric Verrone and Marianne Krawczyk. This high-powered event was organized in collaboration with the Writers Guild Foundation. SCAD stands for Savannah College of Art and Design.

Here's the panel description:

Title: Screenwriting for Games: The Challenge of Choice-Based Narratives

When: Friday, April 9, 2021

Time: 2 PM Eastern Time

From huge triple-A games to interactive online novels, engaging storytelling requires the right mix of imaginative prose and strategic writing. Join successful game writers as they talk about pitching and writing choice-based narratives, how the writers' room in a game company differs from television series or films, and the various ways writers are utilized in the game development process.

SCAD Gaming Fest will feature Q&A's, presentations, and panels, featuring industry professionals from Blizzard, EA, Google, Magic Leap, Microsoft, Ubisoft, 42 Entertainment, Skillshot, and more. This year, it's virtual and open to all, not just SCAD students and SCAD card holders.

Join me and other industry leaders this April 9–10, and get exclusive content on game design and development, animation, visual effects, and more. See you there!

Upcoming Panel at SXSW Online 2021

Hi!  Excited to announce that our panel Creating Touchstones in Emergent Narratives will be part of SXSW Online 2021 under the track Transforming the Entertainment Landscape.  

We had so much to talk about during our LudoNarraCon session that we felt like we could go on for another hour. The SXSW session will delve into new areas as we discuss recapture techniques, why touchstones are important, and more! Join us at SXSW Online March 16-20, 2021.

Here's the panel description:

Title: Creating Touchstones in Emergent Narratives

When: Tuesday, March 16, 2021

Time: 11:15 - 12:10 Eastern Time

Games have a unique ability to establish empathy between a player and a world and characters, but game players don’t always follow the path the narrative lays out for them. This panel discusses how designers and storytellers can build in empathic elements that can be found and engaged with even when the larger narrative gets delivered out of order.

 

Meet the panelists:

Sande Chen is a writer and game designer with over 15 years of experience in the game industry. Her writing credits include 1999 Independent Games Festival winner Terminus, MMO Hall of Fame inductee Wizard101, and the 2007 PC RPG of the Year, The Witcher, for which she was nominated for a Writers Guild of America Award in Videogame Writing. She is the co-author of the book, Serious Games: Games That Educate, Train, and Inform, and was a contributor to Secrets of the Game Business, Writing For Video Game Genres, and Professional Techniques for Videogame Writing.

Kimberly Unger made her first videogame back when the 80-column card was the new hot thing and after 20+ years as a pro in that industry, the magic still hasn’t faded. Now she builds strategy for and sources leading-edge content for Oculus, lectures on the intersection of art and code for UCSC in Games and Playable Media, wrangles a monthly column on science-fiction in videogames over at Amazing Stories and writes about how all these app-driven superpowers are going to change the human race. She is the author of the award-winning Game Development Essentials: Mobile Game Development and the Official GameSalad Guide to Game Development. Her debut sci-fi novel, NUCLEATION is available now on Amazon and her next novel, The Extractionist will be available in November of 2021. 

Juliana Loh is an independent Producer/Artist whose background includes branded entertainment, UX, and art direction and health (mental health awareness). In addition to developing educational/gaming experiences, she has honed her artistic skills as a concept and gallery-showing artist while pioneering, empowering and supporting grassroots tech meetups and communities. Currently working as an instructor and immersive artist, she is keenly aware of how emerging technology is changing the way we relate to each other. She is currently evolving stories through world building and designing narrative and cinematic concepts in tiltbrush. Juliana is regarded as a pioneer in the world of spatial art/design. 

Matthew Farber, Ed.D. is an Assistant Professor of Technology, Innovation, and Pedagogy at the University of Northern Colorado, where he directs the Gaming SEL Lab. He has been invited to the White House, authored several books and papers, and has collaborated with UNESCO MGIEP and Games for Change. His latest book, Gaming SEL: Games as Transformational to Social and Emotional Learning, will be published in 2021.

PlayCrafting Student Spotlight Update

It was a delight to hear from my former game writing students at PlayCrafting. They attended the one-night Game Writing Portfolio Workout sessions or the multi-week intensive Game Writing Primer course. Here are some highlights!

Kyle Erf made a career switch. He is now Director of Technology at Moving Pieces Interactive, makers of Dodo Peak, available on Apple Arcade and Nintendo Switch. He describes his current position as the "best job I've ever had." 
 

Christopher Graf is part of the team working on the upcoming mobile title, Petzebeville, coming in 2021.

Mary Georgescu is starting a new job as a game designer at Exploding Kittens. She received her MFA in Game Design from NYU. She is a co-founder of Eat Melon Studio, which was part of the 2020 NYU Game Center Incubator. The studio's storytelling game Nothing to See Here! will be coming out soon.

Sande Chen is a writer and game designer with over 15 years of experience in the game industry.  Her writing credits include 1999 Independent Games Festival winner Terminus, MMO Hall of Fame inductee Wizard101, and the 2007 PC RPG of the Year, The Witcher, for which she was nominated for a Writers Guild of America Award in Videogame Writing.  She is the co-author of the book, Serious Games: Games That Educate, Train, and Inform, and was a contributor to Secrets of the Game Business, Writing For Video Game Genres, and Professional Techniques for Videogame Writing.

Live Action Online Games (LAOG) During Lockdown

In this article, Sande Chen reports on the use of educational live-action online games (LAOG), a variant of educational LARPs. 

During the pandemic lockdown, it was impossible to play Live Action Role-Playing games (LARPs) that require face-to-face contact. LARP designers like Isabella Negri were forced to consider how LARPs could be played in an online-only setting.  Live Action Online Games (LAOGs), as they were called, were not a new idea, but their popularity in Italy did not rise until 2020 due to the lockdown. 

Speaking at Games For Impact, an online festival celebrating games with social impact, in her session, "Justice Talk: Digital Educational LARPs Under Lockdown," Negri discussed the challenges in converting an existing LARP to LAOG format and gave tips on how best to approach the design of LAOGs. 

Negri first set upon trying to convert her existing eduLARP, Victorian Murder Party into a LAOG. She discovered there were several difficulties in this endeavor due to the nature of online spaces. Players could speak over each other, leading to chaos, or players could opt not to speak at all, which made for a very boring scenario. Most importantly, because body movement, touch, and voice were limited, the normal ways of energizing players could not be done. She further discovered that more than 6 players in a virtual room was not a good idea because it usually turned negative.

Negri found it far easier to design a LAOG from scratch and incorporate the online setting and facilitator into the narrative. Her design could take advantage of whatever digital tool the LAOG would use.  

Justice Talk, an eduLAOG based on the TV show The Orville, featured three convicted felons and a moderator (played by the facilitator) in a live broadcast. The viewing audience got to decide the fate of each felon. The educational goals were to explore biases, social psychology, modernity, politics, and heuristics.

LARPs typically have five phases: the icebreaker, workshop, game, debrief, and follow-up. Because of the online setting, Justice Talk needed a re-imagining of these phases. The workshop consisted of world creation with the audience and the game phase was split into 3 parts. First, the facilitator would get the three main participants to elaborate on their relationship and back story. Then, the televised Q&A would start, with some questions from the audience. Finally, the audience would vote on the verdicts. At the end, the featured players would step out of their roles and there would be a semi-structured debrief based on the issues.

In the Q&A section of the presentation, Negri revealed that icebreakers and energizers were difficult to conduct online. There were the logistics of muting and unmuting or accidentally leaving the microphone on for hot mic moments. Pacing was especially important as was ensuring there was ample opportunity for all players to participate and be involved in the story.

Sande Chen is a NYC-based writer and game designer whose work has spanned over 15 years in the industry. Her credits include 1999 IGF winner Terminus, 2007 PC RPG of the Year The Witcher, and Wizard 101. She is one of the founding members of the IGDA Game Design SIG.