Focus
Focus on… Utopias and Dystopias
The word Dystopia was coined when John Stuart Mill, added the prefix ‘dys’, meaning ‘bad’ to utopia, to create the idea of a perfect world gone bad. […]
Archives: Posts
Ideas
Stories from the Future
[Editor’s note – Speculative Optimism is a Ludogogy project – open to all. The idea is to use techniques of futures thinking, particularly foresight, and creativity to, first, deliver a book of optimistic speculative fiction, […]
Ideas
Three Scenarios of a Future World
Our current volatile reality provides us with opportunities to build a new, better future. Three possible future scenarios are presented here. […]
Ideas
Sex and the pandemic
[Editor’s note -The Speculative Optimism project was launched in February. The first phase of the project is to produce a book of optimistic speculative fiction – and later there will be a collaborative community space […]
design process
The Mechanics of Plots in Peek
This article looks at how science fiction storytelling can be used as a technique in gaming. Specifically, we look at how plot prompts can be used alongside characters and situations to help players intuitively craft […]
how to
Will gamification improve pro-social behaviours, motivation, academic and vocational orientation?
The perspective of a French Economics, Social Sciences and Management teacher Expressing a vision of the future is taking a risk. Nevertheless, it’s useful to imagine what where the underlying and powerful trends of today […]
Ideas
Playing games with the next generation
What will people want to play in 2040? As a futurist, I rely heavily on a skill called Scanning. Scanning is how we start to know the future and begin to expand our time horizon. […]
how to
Observing how games teach players to think and plan ahead
I have always subscribed to the idea that almost every game has something to teach you as you play it. Whether it is sharing a philosophical world view with games like ‘Spec Ops: The Line’(YAGER […]
Review
Review – Living Complexity by Luca Minudel
Living Complexity is described by its author, Luca Minudel, as a catalogue of practices for use within teams, with an eye also at the broader organisation. […]
Ideas
The Future of a Planetary-wide Consciousness
Victor Motti’s book, ‘A Transformation Journey to Creative and Alternative Planetary Futures’, embodies a heartfelt plea for the creation of a planetary-wide consciousness, which the author (probably quite rightly) believes is our best hope for […]
Focus
Focus on… Games Systems for Games Design
There is however another class of ‘games’, made up of generic components and concepts , which therefore allow an almost infinite number of possibilities in play […]
learning topics
Learning about systems using games.
One of the main aspects of games that tends to be overlooked by most people when you approach them with the idea of utilising games as a teaching or training tool is the freedom to […]
Ideas
Beyond Engagement: Competition and Exploration in Serious Games Using Digital Narrative
The following is a chapter from an upcoming book by David Chandross, whom many of you will know from his fascinating posts on LinkedIn, and others from his academic publications. David is a big-hitter in […]
Ideas
What Lies Beneath – Emergence in Games Systems
There are a number of ways in which games can be classified or described as systems. In regard to their composition, they can be seen as collections of inter-related parts; rules, mechanisms, physical components and […]
Ideas
Beer and Trippples – Games as Cybernetic Systems
Nowadays, when most people hear the term ‘Cybernetics’ they will tend to associate it with computer technology, possibly in a sci-fi or futuristic context. However, the term existed well before the age of digital computing. […]