Connections and Correspondences in Simulation/Gaming

It has for a long time been my passion to try and unite people who are researching games in different areas, fields and disciplines under a single banner. Or to be more precise, to at least foster dialogue between them and to make them aware of each others’ works. For this purpose, Simulation & Gaming has produced several symposium issues bringing together research from different communities, ranging from separate game types to shared topics and national communities. In our upcoming June issue, we see one such case, with Jan H. G. Klabbers (2018) presenting a case for a general field of game science, and several authors responding to that call.

Yet this is not the only recent effort, nor are such efforts limited to just Simulation & Gaming. Connections are being formed in other game-related and new media journals, as well as in conferences, even if the efforts to cross unnecessary fences still remain sporadic in many cases. Two cases, both of which are books stand out. The thick volume, Games User Research (Drachen, Mirza-Babaei, & Nacke, 2018) focuses on the user – players aspect ofgames, from various angles. With topics ranging from stages of production to playability heuristics and research methods, the book offers much of use to creators of both recreational as well as instrumental games.

Likewise, the freely online-available Game Design Research (Lankoski & Holopainen, 2017) connects other lines of studies to design research, a task that has until now has not really been accomplished in a manner that would provide industry benefits (Kultima, 2015). In addition, Lankoski and Holopainen provide a rare history of game research that actually takes into account many different traditions and the ways in which the same proverbial wheels have been re-invented over the last three decades.

The articles in this issue also reflect this quest for connections and variety. In Simulated provocations, Mattias Arvola, Marcus Samuelsson, Mathias Nordvall, and Eva L. Ragnemalm (2018) examine the use of SIMPROV, a hypermedia tool in the form of radio theatre. A focus of their article includes ways in which fostered reflection and understanding can be improved in a classroom management setting.

Simulation & Gaming, alongside Analog Game Studies, is one of the rare few gaming-research journals that discusses non-digital gaming. It is therefore a pleasure to feature a board game in this issue as well. That game is POLICING THE SOUND, analyzed by Benjamin Hoy (2018) based on feedback from 88 students. It is a game about smuggling and border control, but offers ideas far beyond that topic, into group decision-making and the classic questions of game engagement and learning.

Brandon Nease and Michelle Samura (2018) provide data on adolescents’ viewpoints on cheating in an educational game, a topic studied also in the context of recreational gaming (e.g., Consalvo, 2009). While exploratory, their findings carry also potential implications to the study of academic cheating in general.

Sutheera Pruksakorn, Somboon Kiratiprayoon, Somkit Uttaranakorn, Orathai Sukreeyapongse, and Pongchai Dumrongrojwatthana (2018) present a learning game on soil quality for low-education Thai farmers. The topic combines some of the key topics of this journal from over the years, including education and sustainability. The authors keenly analyze and apply the concepts in the context of a country that has a growing simulation/gaming scene, and hosts this year’s International Simulation and Gaming Association (ISAGA) conference.

Finally, David Waddington and Thomas Fennewald (2018) bring forth the second sustainability game of the issue, the climate change simulation, FATE OF THE WORLD. The authors list both advantages and challenges of using the game, raising important questions of game depth, systemic thinking and variance from one player to the next.

As always, I hope you find the contents of this issue of both interest and use.