Meaningful Play Podcast
Meaningful Play Podcast
Episodes
Episodes of Meaningful Play Podcast
Mark All
In this episode, Sian and Heather reflect on the complexities of archiving video games. We discuss the way that formal archiving is often difficult and tied up with ideas and judgements about cultural value. We also reflect on the importance of
Queer games? For pride month? Ground-breaking. This episode Sian and Heather chat about queer game design and the growing body of scholarship from writers including Bo Ruberg and Xavier Ho on queer games and the way queer games reimagine and pl
In this episode Sian and Heather reflect on ‘cosy’ games – games that are designed or played for relaxation and comfort. We recap our research over the past month or so, including the DIGRAA conference, and games we’ve played recently, includin
In this episode Sian and Heather ‘dive in’ to underwater worlds and level design in video games, particularly the kinds of storytelling inscribed in watery environments. We first catch up on different research projects we’ve been working on and
In this episode, Sian and Heather ‘tuck in’ to video game food and its role from both mechanical and narrative perspectives. Food, an essential part of life, is a constant presence in video games that rely on world-building and environmental s
Gamification is the practice of applying game design elements in non-game contexts. Both the term and practice have been applied to various activities including education, work, fitness, romance, finances, and beyond. In this episode, we slow d
Gamification is the practice of applying game design elements in non-game contexts. Both the term and practice have been applied to various activities including education, work, fitness, romance, finances, and beyond. In this episode, we slow d
What does the phrase ‘gaming lifestyle’ mean in 2023? In this episode, we talk about the spaces, times, and activities that come to mind when we think of gaming as a hobby. From stylised gaming setups and the visuals of video game streaming; to
What makes something cute, and what does a cute thing do in the context of video games? As a surprisingly (or perhaps unsurprisingly) dominant aesthetic of the contemporary era, cuteness is an area of interest for various scholars. In the episo
In this episode, Sian and Heather get stuck into the influential concept of flow. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s writing and lectures on the flow state have been applied by designers and scholars alike to understand and articulate the unique experie
Happy new year! In this episode Sian and Heather talk about failure in video games. Failure has been an aspect of gameplay that has fascinated many scholars studying video games. We walk through the theories of several scholars, including Jespe
Welcome to our last episode of 2022–and what a year it has been! Sian and Heather take it light and breezy and discuss some of their favourite games from this year, titles they loved, titles they spent a lot of time on (hello Genshin Impact …)
Happy Halloween! In this episode Sian and Heather catch up on what they’ve been playing and researching lately before moving into a discussion of the gothic, the horrible, and the spooky in video games. We reflect on some different ways of thin
Bandai Namco sends a prolific Elden Ring player a sword and God gives you a phone in Pokemon Arceus. This episode, Sian and Heather dive into the idea of generous play. While over the years there has been plenty of discussion on the more negati
In Episode 24 of Meaningful Play, Sian and Heather catch up on some recent research projects before diving into a thinking exercise around the recent discussions on open world games—their MacGuffins, beauty, and all the quirks in between. What
In episode 23 of Meaningful Play, Sian and Heather get stuck into a discussion on difficulty in video games—a subject that has resurfaced in significance with the release of FromSoftware’s latest title Elden Ring. While touching on some of the
In Episode 22 of Meaningful Play, Sian, Heather and Jordana discuss one of the most controversial topics in the realm of videogames – NFTs! In discussing NFTs, they attempt to define and understand NFTs and how they can be used in relation to v
*Apologies for the audio quality – due to COVID-19 we were not able to record with our usual equipment* In Episode 21, Jordana, Sian, and Heather discuss what games they have been playing recently, and consider what makes their favourite boss b
In the twentieth episode of Meaningful Play, Sian and Jordana welcome a special guest, Heather Blakey(!), a PhD candidate focused on games and aesthetics. Together, they discuss the concept of environmental storytelling (or “embedded narratives
In this episode Jordana provides an analysis of the game Bully. After recapping what we’ve been playing lately, we explore player typologies: what are some of the ways that researchers have tried to understand player motivations and preferences
In the eighteenth episode of Meaningful Play, Sian and Jordana discuss a genre of videogames that has become increasingly popular in the last decade – walking simulators! Resultingly, this episode discusses definitions of walking simulators and
We’re back! Neopets is a virtual pet website that launched in 1999 and surged popularity, but two decades later is under threat of becoming obsolete. Easing back into our podcast, we take a trip down memory lane and reflect on our experiences o
*Apologies for our extended absence and this episode’s recording quality, there were some technical issues and we have not been able to record with our usual equipment due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the sixteenth episode of Meaningful Play, J
In the fifteenth episode of Meaningful Play, we continue to discuss user-generated-content related to videogames. Specifically, we discuss our favourite gaming-based YouTubers and Twitch streamers, and the reasons behind why we tune into these
In this episode of Meaningful Play, we discuss user-generated-content (UGC) focused on videogames. Specifically, we explore what makes UGC appealing to audiences (i.e. the use of cultural or ‘gaming capital’ – see Consalvo 2007, and common vide
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