Happy Canada Day to our neighbors to the north! Celebrate with a great Canadian game: Trivial Pursuit! Invented in Montreal in '79 by Canadian journalists Chris Haney and Scott Abbott. Inspiration came from Scrabble (and maybe beer). 100 million copies sold. Beauty, Eh? 🎲🍁 tinyurl.com/yx4z7xrf

🧠Study participants wanted! Over 18 and based in Pittsburgh? Students working with the Center for Transformational Play are recruiting for an in-person co-design session exploring: 💭 Thought Trading 🕹️ AI-based AR game interaction 🤗 Supporting emotional well-being Learn more: tinyurl.com/4dx5d77b

Ready to unlock fresh skills for your team? Our new workshops catalog is LIVE. We offer actionable, research‑powered workshops for nonprofits, executive education, and any org interested in how playful learning can level up your work.👉 tinyurl.com/3n2hhu78

We're thrilled to share a fantastic new resource from our friends at the @cooneycenter.bsky.social - The Co-Design with Kids Toolkit is a website full of resources to help you make technology with kids, for kids. Check it out: codesignwithkids.org #codesignwithkids

📅🚨 Time is running out to submit your hosted session proposal to Meaningful Play! We’re looking for engaging pitches for workshops, roundtables, game play, and more. If you’ve got an idea that brings people together, share it today! The deadline for proposals is June 15. 👉 tinyurl.com/34a53njn

🎮 Meaningful Play 2026 needs YOU! We’re looking for thoughtful, engaged reviewers to help shape this year’s conference. Reviewers needed for: 📝 Full Papers 📌 Posters 🎮 Games & Prototypes Assignments go out June 1 and reviews are due July 8 - sign up today! Learn More: tinyurl.com/bdzzxkcf

DEADLINE APPROACHING! Games, Lighting Talks, and Poster submissions for the 2026 Meaningful Play Conference are due THIS Friday May 15. Other submission deadlines: * Hosted Sessions: June 15 For conference details and to share your work visit 👉 tinyurl.com/34a53njn

📢 Meaningful Play 2026 Deadline Alert! The deadline to submit Games, Lighting Talk Proposals, and Posters to the October 2026 Meaningful Play conference in Pittsburgh is May 15! Other key dates: Hosted Sessions Deadline: June 15 Don’t miss out! Submit your work today👉 tinyurl.com/34a53njn

We’re thrilled to have been part of the Remake Learning Days ONEXONE event hosted by @cmu.edu's Entertainment Technology Center. Our contribution? A creature combine built by attendees - all without being able to see what they were building. As promised, here’s the finished product:

🚀 New CTP research alert! Director Jessica Hammer and collaborators just published work in @springernature.com's Computer Science journal exploring how custom science gateways can help people engage with STEM at every age. 👉 rdcu.be/fcN8S

What do you get when you bring Bigfoot and Mothman together? Better teamwork! "Monsters of Appalachia" is a LARP that turns cryptids, conflict, and community-building into a powerful learning experience - and is an example of the power of transformational play research @cmu.edu!

The CTP is spearheading a new interdisciplinary concentration that’s furthering understanding of how game‑based tools can generate richer data and open new pathways for studying how people think and learn. Check out how @cmu.edu students are shaping the future of research! 👉 tinyurl.com/3b2j3s77

🚨LAST CHANCE🚨 to submit papers to Meaningful Play 2026! The deadline to submit papers to this October’s Meaningful Play conference in Pittsburgh is Wednesday, April 22. Visit the conference website for full details, other deadlines, and to submit your work! 👉 tinyurl.com/34a53njn

📅🚨 One week to go for paper submissions! The deadline to submit papers to this October’s Meaningful Play conference is April 22. Other key submission dates: *Games, Lightning Talks, Posters: May 15 *Hosted Sessions: June 15 Visit the conference website to submit your work! 👉 tinyurl.com/34a53njn

Inspired by NASA’s Artemis missions? Check out SpaceCHI - The world’s first conference dedicated to advancing human-computer interaction in space! 🚀🧑‍🚀

What could be more joyful than humanity’s return to the moon? We celebrate as Artemis II launches the first crewed mission to the moon in 50 years. Travel with Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen as they make history as the first people to orbit the moon since Apollo 17. 🚀🌕

✍️Survey Participants Needed!✍️ Are you a mobile or game developer working with AI? Researchers want to understand the real-world experiences, challenges, and insights of developers using AI tools. Take this short survey and help shape the future of AI in app development! 👉 tinyurl.com/bdr5hckz

Researchers are looking for participants to join a playtest for Broke, a board game exploring the realities of systemic poverty. Playtesters are needed from 2pm - 4pm on Sat. April 4 in Pittsburgh’s Oakland neighborhood. For more information, fill out the interest form 👉 tinyurl.com/3d55ap64

📢 The deadline to submit papers to this October’s Meaningful Play conference has been EXTENDED to April 22! 📢 Other key submission dates: *Games, Lightning Talks, Posters: May 15 *Hosted Sessions: June 15 Visit the conference website for full details and to submit your work! 👉 tinyurl.com/34a53njn

🚨Meaningful Play 2026 submissions are OPEN! 🚨 Meaningful Play is accepting work for this October’s conference. Key submission dates include: *Full Papers: March 31 *Games, Lightning Talks, Posters: May 15 *Hosted Sessions: June 15 Visit the conference website for details and to submit your work!

🚨Attention Game Industry professionals! Submissions open soon for REGENERATE Game Jam 2026. Hosted by the IGDA Climate SIG, this year’s jam is dedicated to making games that imagine sustainable futures. The submission window is March 19-22. Learn more 👉 itch.io/jam/regenera...

As Black History Month wraps up its 100th Anniversary, we’d like to celebrate a particularly playful inventor: Lonnie Johnson. NASA engineer, clean energy researcher, AND inventor of one of the best selling toys in history ... the Super Soaker water gun! Learn More 👉 tinyurl.com/yd5u6ttp

🎉 Meaningful Play's Bluesky has launched! 🎉 Join us Oct 13-15, 2026 in Pittsburgh! Academics, game designers, and educators: If you make or study games, this is the conference for you! Submission guidelines and registration details will be released soon! Stay tuned…

2/20/2026 新年快樂 Happy Lunar New Year! Some great games to play to celebrate include She Long Men - a fast-paced card game, and Shi Ba La - a classic dice game. But the staple for fun with friends and family is.. Mah Jong. Wishing you sharp minds, steady hands, and winning streaks all year long! 🏮🐴

Data and LEGO®, together at last! Members of the CMU community are invited to discover the building blocks of data at an interactive workshop using LEGO® Bricks. Explore data concepts and storytelling. (Maybe your minifig can give a presentation) 🗓️Feb. 18, 4-6 pm, Hunt Library

🚨Alert!🚨 Meaningful Play conference dates and deadlines announced! Join us for Meaningful Play 2026 Oct 13-15 in Pittsburgh! Key submission dates include: *Full Papers: March 31 *Games, Lightning Talks, Posters: May 15 *Hosted Sessions: June 15 Submission guidelines will be released soon!

As we dig ourselves out of the winter weather, we can’t resist sharing a very Pittsburgh playful experience… Along with Rialto Street in Troy Hill, there are additional reports of intrepid skiers and snowboarders on Ohio Street in Monroeville and on South Negley Avenue. Shred the streets! ⛷️🏂🚦

Jan. 23 is the day the first official Frisbees came flying off the production line. While folks had been tossing pie plates around since the 1870s, the flingable branded toy by Wham-O was first produced in 1957. Don’t let a little snow stop you from celebrating with a game!

👀 Check out this nifty new open-access, online journal dedicated to exploring videogame making as an artistic, poetic, and experimental practice. Game Poems just launched its first issue - a curated collection of small interactive works presented alongside artist statements and editorial context.

🚨Current CMU Student Alert!🚨 Are you looking for an independent study centered on game development, research, or graphic design? There’s still time to meet the Jan. 12 deadline for spring opportunities with the CTP! Learn More 👉 tinyurl.com/3n7t3yv7

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!