Puzzle game Cryptogram uses a real bookshelf to open secret doors

I’ve never in my life had the experience of tilting a book off an old dusty bookshelf and unlocking a secret passageway, but I hope I do before I die. Movies have never sold us a more believable-but-still-magical fantasy than the passage behind the bookshelf, or the revolving bookshelf that turns under your feet and rotates you, speechless, into a hidden laboratory. But I have now gotten to play a game inspired by that fantasy, and it’s one of the […]

Which talk should we pick?

One of our still-secret but crazy-awesome speakers is just blasting ideas at us – they have pitched no less than 4 excellent talks so far!
We love them all and can’t seem to pick one! Please help us decide by voting in our poll:
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Thanks for weighing in, and please check out all the conference sessions so far!
Oh, and a pro-tip: Visby is fast running out of hotel beds for the conference dates. Please make […]

Swedish Game Awards in Visby

The Swedish Game Awards is the nation’s largest video game development competition, pitting all Swedish game educations against each other. It has been held annually since 2002 and is organized by a student-driven, non-profit association. They just announced that the 2017 finale will be held in Visby – just a few days after the Gotland Game Conference!
Ergo, you might want to adjust your travel schedule to allow for a few more days in this medieval town of […]

Earn a free conference pass!

So your crowdfunding missed its target, your company can’t send you, or you want to scout talent before anyone else gets the chance. Whatever the reason, you may earn yourself a free Conference Pass and front row seats to meet our students by serving on the GGC Jury!
The jury arrive a day early (28/5) to attend student presentations (2-4 hours, with breaks) and then play their games on the show floor and provide thoughtful and constructive feedback […]

Educators Summit update

The Game Educators Summit is a 2-day meeting hosted by the Department of Game Design, during the GGC. We aim to bring together all higher game educations (internationally) to discuss our common concerns and set up a network of support.
So; two days, broken up by the Gotland Game Conference. The first day (28/5) is filled with short presentations and an evening meet-and-greet on the show floor among the student games.
The second day (31/5) takes place after […]

Conference sessions so far

So far, we have a one-two punch of Chris Franklin and Doris Rusch: Chris will lay the foundation of a platform study, arguing that computational devices funnels us towards spatial simulation and conflict – partially explaining the early decades of simplistic violence in our video games.
Then Doris will follow up and show how we might resist this technological determinism, bringing metaphor and nuance into our digital systems.
There have a big-picture talk from the father […]

Tickets are available!

Registration for the 2017 Gotland Game Conference (29/5 & 30/5 in Visby) is now open! Please visit our ti.to page to register.

The GGC is an annual non-profit conference hosted by the department of Game Design at Uppsala University campus Gotland.
About the Visitors Pass
We are committed to welcoming a diverse community, and we know that financial accessibility is an important part of that goal. For 2017 we are offering a pay-what-you-want Visitors Pass. We kindly request […]

The theme is up!

The theme of the conference has been set – we call it M for Mature for short. Let me share a piece by Doris C. Rusch that helped inspire this choice;

“It wasn’t too long ago that a US court ruled that games were not worthy of first amendment protection. They were not understood as adequately expressive or communicative to justify it. Now, games are seen and studied as vehicles for meaning generation. They are […]

Student projects selected for Alt.Ctrl:GDC

Every year, the best and brightest of the game industry gather in San Francisco for the Game Developers Conference (GDC). As part of the 5 day event the organizers also host alt.ctrl.GDC – an on-site showcase of unique games built around alternative control schemes and interactions. Or in their own words: “a chance to play some of the most inventive and innovative games around using unique, one-of-a-kind controllers.”
This year, two of our student teams will be present! Among […]

Alumni Days 2016 gallery

Looking for details about the Alumni Days? Check this post. The YouTube playlist is available here.




















































Posted in Blog by Ulf Benjaminsson

The fuse has been lit!

The website for GGC 2017 is live, which means the time and place have been set! The conference theme, speakers and tickets will be announced in the coming weeks and months.
Until then you can add the dates to your calendar – 29-30 May 2017, reserve a ferry or plane ticket to Visby, and subscribe to our feed and/or the Facebook page to be notified of any updates.
Don’t know what GAME and the GGC is […]

New Mocap System at Uppsala University

As you know, we’ve recently made a substantial upgrade to our motion capture equipment. We’ve swapped out all the tech and swapped out the studio – we moved it from our previous spot at the Baltic Art Center, to the university’s own F-building – ie: the GAME house, right next to the small boat harbor in Visby.
Anyway – a week ago Nataska sent out a call for students to come help exercise the system, and she put together […]