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Jamming for allies: finding a formula for inclusive design exploration collaborations

Published: 26 February 2017 Publication History

Abstract

This paper explores the potential of using game jams to engage with game developers in order to address issues related to inclusivity in games. Based on extensive critical analysis of local cooperative games, we have identified a number of issues in relation to how the socio-technical system (software, hardware, cultural norms, etc.) casts female players in restricted roles. These findings were used as input into two game jams where participants were tasked with creating game concepts that would address the inclusivity issues we identified. In this process, we discovered that it is difficult to simultaneously operate on a critical reflective level of analysis at the same time as engaging in concrete creative work. Changing the mix of voices - by inviting designers known for inclusivity advocacy and drastically increasing the number of female participants - allowed us to maintain the intended focus on the underlying issues more effectively in the second workshop. This, however, came at the expense of silencing less advocacy-inclined participants.

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  • (2024)Developing and validating a scale for motivation in participating in time-bounded collaborative eventsInternational Journal of Human-Computer Studies10.1016/j.ijhcs.2024.103223185:COnline publication date: 25-Jun-2024
  • (2021)Two Decades of Game JamsProceedings of the 6th Annual International Conference on Game Jams, Hackathons, and Game Creation Events10.1145/3472688.3472689(1-11)Online publication date: 2-Aug-2021

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    cover image ACM Other conferences
    ICGJ '17: Proceedings of the Second International Conference on Game Jams, Hackathons, and Game Creation Events
    February 2017
    47 pages
    ISBN:9781450347976
    DOI:10.1145/3055116
    Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than the author(s) must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from [email protected].

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    • GGJ: Global Game Jam
    • Unity: Unity
    • Game Jam Junior: Game Jam Junior
    • GitHub: GitHub

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    Publication History

    Published: 26 February 2017

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    Author Tags

    1. action research
    2. board games
    3. cooperative games
    4. creative collaboration
    5. design exploration
    6. diverse game design
    7. game jams
    8. inclusive game design
    9. video games

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    • Unity
    • Game Jam Junior
    • GitHub

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    ICGJ '17 Paper Acceptance Rate 14 of 19 submissions, 74%;
    Overall Acceptance Rate 23 of 43 submissions, 53%

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    View all
    • (2024)Developing and validating a scale for motivation in participating in time-bounded collaborative eventsInternational Journal of Human-Computer Studies10.1016/j.ijhcs.2024.103223185:COnline publication date: 25-Jun-2024
    • (2021)Two Decades of Game JamsProceedings of the 6th Annual International Conference on Game Jams, Hackathons, and Game Creation Events10.1145/3472688.3472689(1-11)Online publication date: 2-Aug-2021

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