Past OASIS Events & Talks

In November of 2014 prof. Casey O’Donnell published Developer's Dilemma: The Secret World of Videogame Creators with MIT Press (2014), the first long-term ethnographic account of a "AAA" game development studio. The book called on game academics and developers to take a active role in shaping the work practices and cultures that surround game making. One aspiration was to see a future where where "crunch," or extensive overtime, and toxic workplace cultures and work practices might diminish. Given the significant shifts in work worlds "post" COVID-19, the relative collapse of Game Workers Unite (GWU) in the United States and other locations, and the "Great Resignation" as it has been called, is the time to examine what might emerge in the future. In his talk, prof. O’Donnell sketches the contours of his new project, Making Games Differently. It is not about the current state or status quo of game making. It is not about what is, but about what game making could become through a lens of prefigurative politics.

Department of Media and Information at Michigan State University. He is a 2023-2034 Fulbright-Finland Scholar at Tampere University affiliated with the Centre of Excellence in Game Culture Studies and Game Research Lab. His research examines the creative collaborative work of (video)game design and development and production studies generally. His book, "Developer's Dilemma" is published by MIT Press. He is an active game creator, with his collaborative work on Creative Dying Card Game being nominated for an IndieCade Best Tabletop Award in 2022. His research has been funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institute of Health (NIH).

Teema ry

Another game day in Oasis! This time we are offering games made in Finland. We will have Alan Wake 2, as well as other cool games. Come join us for an afternoon of finnish games!

more info TBA

Digital Gameplay Community (play and talk about interesting games)

In a play world dominated by games and gameplay, one might wonder if toys are valued as playthings anymore. This talk explores toys, media, and machines from the perspective of object play, meaning play where the physicality, tangibility, and displayability of artifacts continue as meaningful aspects of human interaction with toys amidst and alongside the digitalization and Internet-connectedness of contemporary play. How do toys generate play value and promote long-term play as physical entities as we head toward a post-digital world?

Dr. Katriina Heljakka is a researcher of toys, play, and playful learning at the University of Turku. She received her doctorate (in visual arts) at the Aalto University in 2013 and has since worked in the Academy of Finland-funded projects Ludification and the Emergence of Playful Culture, Hybrid Social Play (together with Business Finland), and most recently, the Centre of Excellence in Game Culture Studies. Her current research interests include speculative toy fiction, play machines, and playful learning in work and higher education.

Interaktio ry

In TAHRAcircle you can come and work on your own arts and crafts projects and enjoy some good company. TAHRAcircle is organized by arts and crafts club TAHRA.

Eric Zimmerman
THE RULES WE BREAK - Lessons in Play, Thinking, and Design

What good is game design? In this highly interactive talk, Eric Zimmerman will share ideas and playful activities from THE RULES WE BREAK - Lessons in Play, Thinking, and Design - a compendium of exercises from more than three decades of teaching. Eric will lead us through some of the exercises in the book that teach the fundamentals of design (systems thinking, the semiotics of play, narrative design, the iterative process) through play and games. Making a case for the relevance of game design, he will connect concepts from play and games to the challenges of our present historical moment.

Eric Zimmerman is a game designer and Arts Professor at the NYU Game Center. A three decade veteran of the game industry, Eric designs play on and off the computer. Recent projects include Dear Reader, a game published by Apple that uses classic literature as the basis for word puzzles, and The Green Games Guide, an industry initiative to design and manufacture environmentally sustainable tabletop games. Eric is the co-author of Rules of Play with Katie Salen and more recently The Rules We Break.

Prof. Alan Meades (CCCU UK) will discuss Arcade Britannia, a project that combines local and social history, the love of arcades, and models for engaging with diverse audiences (books, comics, interactive experiences). Arcade Britannia (MIT Press, 2022) tells the story of the development of the British amusement arcade as a cultural space, the growth of the British and industry, and the influences of legislation, groups, and international business from the 1900s to the present day.

A presentation on the topic of wild animal suffering followed by discussion.

Artistic Digital Gameplay Community: Come and play interesting selected games and discuss your experiences with others.

First Vincent Verhoeven will give a presentation about uncertainty: how it is ubiquitous yet commonly ignored and how it leads to biased and sub-optimal decisions. The aim of the presentation and discussion is to explain and explore what uncertainty means so that these problems can be overcome.

We will be playing "A Mortician's Tale", feel welcome to come, play the game and talk about the experience with others.