The weather outside may be frightful this time of year but that’s no reason to avoid outdoor fun and games! Check out this awesome list of “cool” winter games from around the world. (It says it’s for kids. We beg to differ. Enjoy your snow battle!) ❄️⛷️☃️

Want to wrap up family fun and the ultimate present in the same box? CTP Director Dr. Jessica Hammer spoke on KDKA's Talk Pittsburgh about how games and play can be the gift that keeps on giving. (There's also a nod to some amazing games designed by our @cmu.edu colleagues!)

Guess who’s going to be on KDKA's Talk Pittsburgh today? Live at 3pm Dec. 8! Watch here 👉 www.cbsnews.com/pittsburgh/talk-pittsburgh/ #centerfortransformationalplay #holidaygamenight

A heartfelt THANK YOU to everyone who gave on Tuesday to support our work! Donors like you help us continue our mission of building community, doing high-quality research, and helping people solve problems through the power of games and play. ♥️

Today is the day! Dec. 2 is the 11th annual #givingCMUday when members of the Tartan community kick off their end-of-year giving by supporting meaningful areas of CMU. Your gift boosts the work we do and supports students across the game design community. Support the CTP 👉 tinyurl.com/34tzc6nh

This Tuesday, join us in empowering current and future Tartans through #GivingCMUDay! Help us create new opportunities for bold ideas and innovation and support students across the game design community! 💝🧑‍🎓

Artificial Intelligence may not only be a source of data leaks, but also manipulation. The work of our colleagues at the Carnegie Mellon Software Engineering Institute warns that poor communication of AI outputs can fuel bad decisions. Learn more 👉

🎉 We’re excited to announce that in Fall 2026, we’re partnering with the Entertainment Technology Center to offer a concentration in Transformational Play as part of the Master’s of Entertainment Technology! Learn more about the program and how to apply. Applications are due by Jan. 1, 2026!

👀 What a milestone! (And what a bar for our own students to reach for … no pressure 😉) #researchgoals #GoogleScholarFamous 🎓💻

🤖🌐 CTP Director Dr. Jessica Hammer was delighted to be part of PA State @repdanmiller.com’s latest Community Webinar. The panel discussion centered on the intersection of artificial intelligence and its use for social engagement. Check out the video! 👉 pahouse.com/miller/communitywebinars

Our friends over at en.seethegood.app are working to bring their innovative and playful classroom programs to schools in Pennsylvania. Learn more - and see Pittsburgh represented on the news in Finland! 🇫🇮 📰

🎃🐈‍⬛ Celebrate Halloween with a cheeky horror tragicomedy - Slay the Princess. A mysterious voice says you must kill a princess in a cabin in the woods. If you fail - it will bring about the end of the world. We saved the spookiest for last: Three out of five 👻👻👻 Link 👉 blacktabbygames.com/press-stp

Let’s keep up the creepy with Home Safety Hotline. In this analog game players take on the role of a telephone operator who must answer incoming callers’ questions about what’s inside their home. Spookiness Rating of two out of five 👻👻 Link 👉 igdb.com/games/244303/presskit

A slightly spookier game recommendation: Cult of the Lamb casts players in the role of a possessed lamb saved from annihilation by an ominous stranger… but now you must repay the debt. This one gets a Spookiness Rating of two out of five 👻👻 Link 👉 igdb.com/games/cult-of-the-lamb/presskit

Tuesday’s Halloween treat is a life-sim game about camping on a haunted, ever-changing island. In Cozy Grove you’re a spirit scout wandering the forest, finding hidden secrets, and helping soothe the local ghosts. Spookiness Rating: One out of five 👻 👉 www.qag.io/cg/

In support of a happy Halloween, The CTP is spending the week sharing some “spirited” favorite games. First up: Spiritfarer. You play Stella, ferrymaster to the deceased. Build a boat to explore the world! Spookiness Rating: One out of five 👻

CHI PLAY's Work In Progress (WIP) contributions provide a unique opportunity for authors to present reports on original yet incomplete work that seeks to advance our current knowledge in games and play through innovative or thought-provoking ideas. Great work all who presented! tinyurl.com/y27zs65w

Our Project Baseplate partners over at cmu.edu/gelfand and mattsmakerspace.org are continuing to amplify learning in Pittsburgh and beyond! Read more 👉 tinyurl.com/5xmuvnxb

The CTP is honored to celebrate the 2025 Andy Awards @cmu.edu and to be recognized in three categories: 🏆Commitment to Community Engagement 🏆Commitment to Excellence 🏆Teamwork and Collaboration Congratulations to all the nominees and thank you for all you do to support CMU! 👉 tinyurl.com/3enrj7b7

The CTP’s Director, Dr. Jessica Hammer, shared her expertise to support producers of the long-running @pbs.org series NOVA as they explored collaborative science learning through the mediums of livestreams like Twitch. Check out the results of the research!

We’re thrilled to share The Center for Transformational Play's Project Baseplate partner Emily Sanders is helping support playful learning at two elementary schools thanks to a collaboration with mattsmakerspace.org! 🧱👷⛹️

When you smile, the whole world smiles with you. Thanks to Professor Emeritus Scott Fahlman, we send smiles a thousand miles through our keyboards. September 19, 1982 marks the birthday of the emoticon: A simple :-) sent over a CMU message board. #CTPScotty was thrilled to swing by the celebration!

Our friends @geekwire.com have launched season two of the Does Compute podcast. On this week's episode, learn more about how play creates connections and cultivates empathy as The CTP's Director, Dr. Jessica Hammer, explains how play can open doors for people of all ages.

📢Registration Update! We have extended the deadline for Early Bird registrations until Monday, 15.09. (AoW)! Find out more about our registration fees and register here: chiplay.acm.org/2025/registr... @acm-sigchi.bsky.social #chiplay #chiplay2025

📢 Get ready for #chiplay2025! You can now register for online and on-site attendance. Find out more about our registration fees and register here: chiplay.acm.org/2025/registr... #chiplay @acm-sigchi.bsky.social

Thrilled to highlight our partners at the Richard King Mellon Foundation and their great work showcased on @oppinsights.bsky.social's new Community Impacts page. Our collaboration includes funding for research exploring how play can help build cross-class relationships among children. 📊👏 🧱

Work led by researchers @cmu.edu's Center for Transformational Play has the potential to not only make video editing a less complicated process, but also make AI a creative partner for video content creators 🎶💻

Our colleagues at @scsatcmu.bsky.social have come up with a tool that could change the future of manufacturing, one brick at a time 🤖🧱

We love to see CMU alumni make good… especially when they find a way to help people learn how to say “gamification” in multiple languages 😉🗺️🗣️

Our friends over at Carnegie Mellon University School of Computer Science are doing their part to ensure that we never have to worry about Triffids... (and other, actually real invasive species either) 🌿🔬 🧪

Games like Minecraft can be more than just a fun place to play. For some people, especially vulnerable children, they can serve as a powerful means of self expression and mental health support. 🧱♥️

July 24th is Amelia Earhart Day, marking the 1897 birthday of the famed aviator. Why not celebrate by taking flight from your desktop? Check out the linked ranking of flight simulator options for your PC …and tell your boss you’re just practicing for a “smooth takeoff” on that next project.🧑‍✈️🛩️

Our friends over at Tekko are gearing up for a weekend filled with gaming, fashion, music, and more! Pittsburgh’s Japanese pop culture convention runs through Sunday at Lawrence Convention Center.

How fast can a pop culture sensation be turned into a playable experience? In the case of one of the hottest movies streaming on Netflix the answer might be a matter of months. (No matter where they end up, that soundtrack will be 🔥)

The unique climate science research of our friends over at Davis Data Driven Change @ucdavis.bsky.social has been accepted to Scenarios Forum 2025! They would be the youngest research team ever to attend! Visit their fundraising page to learn more about their work and to make a donation.

Trivia Time! Our neighbours to the north are celebrating Canada Day - in honour of a day of fun and games, can you name *both* of Canada’s official sports? Chances are you keep your stick on the ice… but what’s the other one? (If you want the answer, visit tinyurl.com/5bzcn87u eh?)🏒🍁 🎆

We’re totally stoked to celebrate June 27 as the day Tony Hawk landed the first ever 900 in competition at the 1999 X Games. That same year Pro Skater debuted on the PlayStation and launched one of the best-selling video game franchises of the early 2000s. Gnarly. 🛹🎮🤸

Time is running out to register for our July workshop! Whether you’re designing apps, building services, managing teams, or shaping product strategy, Building Joyful Products is designed to help you infuse more delight into the things you make. Click the link to secure your spot today! 👷🎉

An old municipal building in Penn Hills will reboot into a new home for retro games and electronics. #TheBloopMuseum will fill the site with vintage gaming consoles, arcade machines and other throwback gadgets. Wonder if they have a Game Shark… 🎮📺🔌

On 6/13 1913 a mountaineering party reached the true summit of Denali (a.k.a. Mt. McKinley), the highest peak in North America. Not ready to slap on a pair of IRL crampons? Check out this list of tabletop games from @boardgamegeek.com to start your ascent at home! 🏔️🧗🥾

😃PLAYTESTERS WANTED!⌨️ Are you interested in: - Role-playing games (RPG’s) - Text-based games - Interactive fiction? Participate in a research study at Carnegie Mellon University exploring identity through gaming. Follow the link to learn more!

Registration is 🎉OPEN🎊 for the CTP’s July workshop! Designing apps? Building services? Managing teams? Shaping product strategy? CTP Director Dr. Jessica Hammer will help you learn how to infuse more delight into the things you make. Space is limited so click the link and secure your spot today!

Our Pittsburgh Pals Krista Kay and Marcella Spear are still alive on Season 5 of LEGOMasters! We have our bricks crossed that this Project Baseplate alum and her Steel City Lug pal will make it through another round. Watch the action at 8 pm on FOXTV (streaming next day on Hulu) 🧱🤞👷

Do you even game, bro? Probably not compared to Antonio Monteiro. With more than 24,000 titles, Monteiro is the current world record holder for the largest collection of video games. (But does he have a copy of E.T. for Atari? #IYKYK) 🏆🕹️

“We’re going to start to see the worst effects of this ten years down the road.” CTP Director Dr. Jessica Hammer and other researchers @cmu.edu warn that a lack of funding for studies that focus on sex and gender might also hasten a US brain drain.

Get ready to get your brick on and cheer on friend and Project Baseplate alum Krista Kay! S5 of fox.com/lego-masters premiers TONIGHT at 8 pm on FOX (streaming next day on Hulu). Krista and Pittsburgh Pal Marcella Spear will go head-to-head with 10 other teams for the title of LEGO® Master. 🧱👷🏁

Start your engines! May 16th is NASCAR Day. What better way to celebrate than to get into an argument over the first NASCAR video game. Our official position: it's Richard Petty’s “Talladega” released in 1984 for Atari 8-bit computers. Disagree? We will come at you like a spider monkey 🎮🏎️🏁

We are less than a week away from the premier of S5 of fox.com/lego-masters featuring friend and Brick Club facilitator Krista Kay. Learn more about this awesome Project Baseplate alum then cheer her and #Pittsburgh Pal Marcella Spear on starting 5/19 (8pm on FOX / next day on Hulu) 🧱🎉

Did you know one of the earliest video games was created in 1958? American physicist William Higinbotham designed “Tennis for Two” for the Brookhaven National Laboratory's annual public exhibition using an oscilloscope and two aluminum controllers. Bonus fun fact - Pong didn’t debut until 1972! 🎮🏓

The CTP is thrilled to share the news that one of our amazing Project Baseplate Brick-by-Brick® facilitator program alumni has been selected for Season 5 of fox.com/lego-masters 🤯 Krista Kay will compete with partner youtube.com/@BuildwMarcella against 10 other teams for the title of LEGO® Master!