Game Design for the End of the World
Publication Date
4-5-2022
Abstract
Climate change, pandemics, political polarization, systemic racism, and capitalism run amok! If there’s anything that marks the 2020s, it’s a sense that life on the planet is increasingly under attack. Games –particularly video games – have explored these apocalyptic themes, often putting players in the position of saving the world or surviving its ruins. But what if games were designed to save the real world, or at least better survive these strange times? Colleen Macklin is a game designer and Associate Professor in the school of Art, Media and Technology at Parsons School of Design. In this talk, she will discuss why games are uniquely suited to this moment, and how we can create fun and entertaining games that help us not just save the world, but imagine a better future.
Colleen Macklin is a game designer and Associate Professor in the school of Art, Media and Technology at Parsons School of Design. In 2006 she founded and co-directs PETLab (Prototyping Education and Technology Lab), a lab that develops games for experimental learning and social engagement. She is a member of the game design collective Local No. 12, makers of the card game The Metagame (2015), and the videogame, Dear Reader (2019). She co-authored with John Sharp Games, Design and Play: A detailed look at iterative game design (2016) and Iterate: Ten Lessons in Design and Failure (2019)
Recommended Citation
Clark University, "Game Design for the End of the World" (2022). Clark University Video Archive. 316.
https://commons.clarku.edu/videoarchive/316