Look who is being celebrated here: www.game-in-lab.org/news/game-in... @melissainau.bsky.social

My first academic publication came out today in Education Sciences! Our paper presents a card game I designed as an example of how bespoke boardgames can provide an authentic learning experience. Huge thanks to lead and co-authors @melissainau.bsky.social and @elisabone.bsky.social.

Once again, I have been asked to give a conference talk about AI. Once again, I ask how much I am allowed to swear on stage.

Delayed going out to lunch so my daughter could show off her (extensive) eyeball collection. This is less creepy than it sounds but only a smidge.

Do you teach boardgames? We have just launched a survey asking about your experience! It takes about ten minutes to complete - please share! Survey link: go.unimelb.edu.au/45qp

@gralefrit.bsky.social You have to see these! A friend of mine has been collating a series of images entitled "Things my students have written turned into Philomena Cunk quotes" and they're just glorious.

It is my 10 year BGStats-iversary! Thanks to the Bigster who indulged me in a game of Qwixx to celebrate 😍 #bgstats #qwixx

Oh my goodness, what a wonderful wonderful story! www.sbs.com.au/news/article...

I'll be talking #boardgames and the #SpielDesJahres Awards (German Game of the Year) with @dontattempt.bsky.social on ABC Radio Melbourne (774) in the next few minutes. Listen live: www.abc.net.au/listen/live/...

After mayhem and madness in Manchester, we're off to Glasgow today for the final show of our Call of Cthulhu Live tour of the UK! www.aegpresents.co.uk/event/call-o...

Could this study BE any more adorable? When findings are what you want them to be.

Calling #Hanabi players in Melbourne! One of our graduate researchers is doing a SUPER COOL study where you get to play Hanabi with a robot 🤖. You don’t need to be a champion, just be familiar with the rules (and aged 18+). The study has university human ethics research approval.

We're excited to launch this survey, which is part of our Discovery Project "Co-designing Innovations in Digital Storytelling with Older Adults". If you have experience of life storytelling, please tell us! For info about the project, please visit cis.unimelb.edu.au/research/hci...

Double conference day! This morning I gave a keynote at #icgan2025; this evening, doing demos at #hri2025.

Joining us from Melbourne, where she is a Senior HCI Lecturer, we’re excited to sit down and listen to Dr. Melissa J. Rogerson talk to us about “The Boundaries of Hybridity” in our third keynote! #uwaterloo #thegamesinstitute #ICGAN25 #ICGAN2025 #researchimpact #interdisciplinaryresearch

“Unless the administration’s plans to suppress academic freedom are immediately resisted, rejected and overturned, they will be far, far worse than government actions during the McCarthy era.” -John Wilson, who was recently telling everyone to calm down. www.insidehighered.com/opinion/view...

Elections will never be the same.

I'm really excited to be attending this (remotely of course).

Nothing says Valentine’s Day like a fire evacuation.

The Oregon Trail generation speaks

Husband: *turns off Kindle to sleep* Husband’s phone (secondary support): *rings* I mean, half an hour later would have been worse, right?

I have not been posting much from #DiGRAA2025 but the whole room just rocked out to the Mr Icecream song, even while poor Mr Icecream was melting on the road. Heartless, all!

I’m so proud of my 88-year-old mother, who has just sent me this perfectly grammatical and understandable text.

My #DiGRAA2025 posts slowed down because @sashasoraine.bsky.social and I were presenting in the last session - talking about how valuable forming a Critical Play Reference group has been (and how central to our work in hybrid digital boardgames). Thanks to all our CPRG members!

#DiGRAA2025 session 2 is on the best topic, Tabletop and Boardgames, although I’m not quite sure why that is three words and not just tabletop.

Super engaging, paper 3 at #DiGRAA2025 is from @drcameron.bsky.social and speaks about sonic the hedgehog fanfiction but mostly about the value of Game Jams as part of pedagogical practices. Some really valuable insights and recommendations. I might need to reach out to you for more tips!

Second #DiGRAA2025 presentation was from @cassiebara29.bsky.social talking about the need for institutional support for games in universities. I have lots of thoughts about this work but the main one is how good it is that more people ARE thinking about it.

The #DiGRAAustralia2025 National Conference kicks off with a fantastic paper from Premeet Sidhu, Jen Scott Curwood & Marcus Carter on a year 7 unit studying a videogame (Night in the Woods) as a class text. Really interesting work and an excellent presentation (as always from this team).

I’m in Adelaide this week for the #DiGRAAustralia national conference. Sadly no chance to catch up with local friends but very much enjoying the great research being showcased here.

The sort of alt text to which we can only aspire.

They are in our science. Not just "gender-based research" but basic demographics reporting.

I'm talking #boardgames with Kat Davidson on ABC Radio Brisbane. Today: Spots!

My January #bgstats stats-o-graphic.

Repost. Played #Qwixx on 2025-01-29 with 2 players, winning score: 137 #bgstats Last round of the night. This one is a bit weird; I preferred the other Bonus board.

Repost. Played #Qwixx on 2025-01-29 with 2 players, winning score: 104 #bgstats Bonus again - Bigster absolutely milking the bonus numbers & getting some chains going. This is def our second favourite board of the night.

Repost. Won #Qwixx on 2025-01-29 with 2 players, winning score: 49 #bgstats This is one of the Bonus boards. It’s interesting without being fiddly (whereas Gemixxt is arguably more fiddly than interesting).

Repost. Won #Qwixx on 2025-01-29 with 2 players, winning score: 55 #bgstats Gemixxt again, this time on the grouped board.

Repost. Won #Qwixx on 2025-01-29 with 2 players, winning score: 95 #bgstats Longo boards again, to see how they play. I only managed 2 lucky number swaps but it was enough.

Reposting. Played #Qwixx on 2025-01-29 with 2 players, winning score: 103 #bgstats Bigster is hosing me tonight. This was the Gemixxt board, which does my head in but was still faster to play than Longo.

I do not usually play this many games (although chance would be nice). We’re at the beach this week & enjoying our last night, although I’ve been working days. Reviewed 2 papers, submitted one, & worked on a draft of another so it’s been super productive! Soon we’ll go pack & do dishes, but not yet.

I mean, if we had to randomly get invested in playing every version of a game, at least #Qwixx is faster than #TerraformingMars. Is this a #Qwixxathon?

Played #Qwixx on 2025-01-29 with 2 players, winning score: 112 #bgstats This game was on the Longo boards. We enjoyed the Glückszahl rule - Bigster took 7 to my 6. Final scores 112 to 98. I wouldn’t play this often but it makes a fun change.

Played #Qwixx on 2025-01-29 with 2 players, winning score: 85 #bgstats

Played #ForestShuffle on 2025-01-29 with 2 players, winning score: 229 #bgstats I am unsure whether I am rubbish at this, the Bigster is fantastic, or (most likely) some combo of both. Here’s my pretty forest, anyway. I couldn’t draw a right handed bat, and finished with a playable lynx in hand.

Hello to my dark meme friends!

I think some people hear “grants” and think that without them, scientists and government workers just have less stuff to play with at work. But grants fund salaries for students, academics, researchers, and people who work in all areas of public service. “Pausing” grants means people don’t eat.

Played #ForestShuffle on 2025-01-27 with 2 players, winning score: 246 #bgstats Bigster thrashed me soundly. We find it faster to score on paper than to use the app, yet we still try it every time.

Played #JustOne on 2025-01-26 with 6 players #bgstats - great choice for a very intergenerational group spanning about 75 years.