Submissions should consist of a PDF prepared for blind review, containing an abstract of 300 words (references excluded). Please make sure to put “Aesthetics of games submission” in the subject.

Deadline for submission: March 31, 2026

Please note that participants are expected to cover their own transport and accomodation costs; however, lunches and a workshop dinner will be covered.

As a complement to the themes explored in the upcoming Avatar Aesthetics workshop prior to DIGRA 2025 (June 30), we warmly invite philosophers and game scholars to an informal hybrid meeting on the aesthetics and values of games. The event will feature contributions from Professor Christopher Bartel (Appalachian State University) and Assistant Professor Shelby Moser (Utah State University).

Location: Department meeting room, Department of Digital Games, University of Malta
Date and Time: Friday, June 27, 2025 | 17:00–19:00 (CEST)

Format: Hybrid (in-person and online participation)

Program:

• 17:00 – Video Games and the Attitudinal Theory of Aesthetics
  Christopher Bartel
  Bartel will introduce the main arguments of his recent book, Aesthetics and Video Games (Bloomsbury), with a focus on how video games challenge and expand traditional aesthetic theory.
• 17:45 – A Case for a Social Model of Play
  Shelby Moser
  Moser will present work from a forthcoming chapter in which she surveys key aesthetic accounts of video games (Tavinor, Nguyen, Bartel, Hurka) and argues that these are largely individualistic in their conception of play. Building on work co-authored with Stephanie Patridge, she makes the case for a social model of play, where sociality is understood as a guiding aim of gameplay.
• 18:30 – Open Discussion
  Join us for an open and informal discussion following the talks.

The meeting is open to all, and we hope to see many of you there—either in person or online.
If you would like to attend remotely, please contact the organizers for the live link (anita.leirfall@uib.no, john.richard@sageng.no).

WORKSHOP  IN BERLIN: 12–13 September, 2025.

Venues: University of Europe for Applied Sciences and Regenbogenfabrik, Berlin. 

Both traditional games and games that take place in virtual environments rely on play-states designed around their perceptual features. This is apparent by the fact that they prominently rely on phenomenal spatial structures, but also by a variety of perceptual roles that enter into elements like storytelling, sound, kinesthetic feedback and immersive design. 

How should the character of perception in games and virtual environments be understood? While perception in normal circumstances registers ordinary perceptual properties, their agents appear to experience objects and properties imposed by images, rules, symbols and ludic context. In the perception of virtual worlds, options also include illusory contents and virtual objects. In traditional games the players experience objects and properties determined by rules and play. 

This workshop follows up two seminars held in Athens 2022 and Berlin 2024 with a view to develop the discussions on these issues. We invite submissions on questions such as:

• Is perception in virtual worlds veridical? Is it appropriate to talk of perception in virtual worlds?
• Do we perceive game properties and/or affordances?
• How should we understand subjectivity and perception mediated by avatars?
• How does the reality status of objects and properties affect the characterization of perceptual content?
• What are the phenomenal characteristics of gaming experiences?
• How are narratives, fictional worlds and gaming structured around perceptual states?
• How is imagination, make-believe and fantasy related to perception in games?
• How are perceptual image schemas like space, time, objecthood and modality utilized in gaming?
• How is perception in games affected by egocentric vs. allocentric points of view for the player?
• What is the relationship between inference and perceptual content in games?
• Should perceptual content of games be analyzed through “seeing as” or “seeing-in”?

Contributions from different scholarly approaches are welcome, such as game studies, cognitive science, enactivist perception and different embodiment theories, phenomenology, fiction theory, media philosophy, and classic philosophies of perception.

Please submit an abstract (max 2000 characters) in this form: https://forms.gle/b7xDb7bu5B1ys8NJ8 and send a backup-copy to perceptioningames@gmail.com by August 10.  We welcome both full papers and more conjectural presentations.  We highly appreciate presentations that can be submitted as papers to the Journal of the Philosophy of Games, but the participants are free to publish their work where they want.  There will be a small fee (ca 30 euro) to cover rent.

See earlier seminar programs here: https://sites.google.com/view/perceptioningames/

Program committee:

Anita Leirfall, University of Bergen, Norway

Casey Landers, Texas State University, US

Pawel Grabarzcyk, IT-University of Copenhagen, Denmark

John R. Sageng, Game Philosophy Network, Norway

Martin Thiering, University of Europe for Applied Sciences, Germany

Stephan Günzel, University of Europe for Applied Sciences, Germany

Zuzanna Rucinska, University of Antwerp, Belgium

The DIGRA workshop on Avatar Aesthetics invites submissions on the characteristic properties of avatar-based videogames as an art form, and on the aesthetic aspects of self-embodiment in videogames. Avatarial aesthetics relate to a broader tradition of bodily spectacles and amusements while also sharing similarities with experiences created by VR, installation art and performance art. Furthermore, avatar aesthetics intersects with the aesthetics of architecture, of space and travel, and with ethical and political philosophy for game worlds. The workshop aims to bring together scholars from philosophy, game studies, media studies, and related fields to discuss a broad range of aesthetic modes and attractions relevant to avatar-based videogaming. Phenomenological and ontological perspectives on avatarial self-embodiment are also welcome. 

The workshop will address aesthetic concerns related to avatars across various dimensions, including but not limited to:

• Art and the Avatar: How traditional artistic elements — music, poetry, literature, and visual arts — affect avatar-mediated experience and self-experience (Tavinor 2009; Ensslin 2014). 
• Viscerality: Aesthetic attractions related to perceptual spectacle, violence, aggression, and horror in avatar-based games (Huhtamo 1995).
• Ecology and Space: The aesthetic experience of space and place, including adventure, conquest, habitation, and environmental concerns (Jenkins 2004, Chang 2019) 
• Transgression: The philosophical implications of moral and ethical transgressions in avatar-based videogames, including violence and dehumanization (Mortensen & Jørgensen 2020; Sageng 2020) 
• Politics of Representation: The roles of colonialism, militarism, capitalism, and the representation of gender, sexuality, and race in avatar-based videogames (Dyer-Witheford 2009; Wildt et al. 2020; Murray 2019) 
• Body and Interface: Analyzing the technological and generic properties of avatarial self-embodiment, including perspectives from interaction and interface design (Sudnow 1983; Wilhelmsson 2001)
• Subjectivity and Identity: Examining mechanisms of self-positioning, agency, and identity in avatar-mediated interaction, particularly in relation to narrative and fictional characters. (Vella 2015;  Kania 2017)
• Representation and Fictionality: Understanding the representational status and function of avatarial self-embodiment in relation to gaming, fictionality, and virtuality (Tavinor 2012; Carlson & Taylor 2019)

Please submit an abstract of maximum 300 words and a short bio (max 100 words) to avataraesthetics25@gmail.com by May 1, 2025. The organizing committee will select participants based on the relevance and quality of their proposals.  

Each speaker will be given 15 minutes for their presentation, followed by 10-minutes for discussion.

The workshop is organized by the Department of Information Science and Media Studies and the Department of Philosophy at the University of Bergen, in collaboration with the Game Philosophy Network. The organizing committee consists of:

• Associate Professor Rune Klevjer (University of Bergen)
• Associate Professor Anita Leirfall (University of Bergen)
• John R. Sageng, Coordinator of the Game Philosophy Network

Bibliography

Carlson, M., & Taylor, L. (2019). Me and My Avatar: Player-Character as Fictional Proxy. Journal of the Philosophy of Games, 2(1). https://doi.org/10.5617/jpg.6230

Chang, A. Y. (2019). Playing Nature: Ecology in Video Games (Vol. 58). University of Minnesota Press.

Dyer-Witheford, N. (2009). Games of empire: Global capitalism and video games (Vol. 29). University of Minnesota Press.

Ensslin, A. (2014). Literary gaming. MIT Press.

Huhtamo, E. (1995). Encapsulated Bodies in Motion: Simulators and the Quest for Total Immersion. In S. Penny (Ed.), Critical Issues in Electronic Media. State University of New York Press.

Jenkins, H. (2004). Game Design as Narrative Architecture. In N. Wardrup-Fruin & P. Harrigan (Eds.), First Person. New Media as Story, Performance and Game (pp. 118–130). MIT Press.

Kania, M. M. (2017). Perspectives of the Avatar: Sketching the Existential Aesthetics of Digital Games. Wydawnictwo Naukowe Dolnośląskiej Szkoły Wyższej. https://depot.ceon.pl/handle/123456789/13187

Mortensen, T. E., & Jorgensen, K. (2020). The paradox of transgression in games (1st ed.). Routledge.

Murray, S. (2019). On Video Games: The Visual Politics of Race, Gender and Space (First edition., Vol. 27). I.B. Tauris & Co. Ltd.

Sageng, J.R. (2018). “The bracketing of moral norms in videogames”. In Jørgensen, Kristine & Karlsen, Faltin (Eds.), Transgression in Games and Play. The MIT Press.

Sudnow, D. (1983). Pilgrim in the Microworld. Eye, Mind and the Essence of Video Skill. Warner Books.

Tavinor, G. (2009). The Art of Videogames. Wiley.

Tavinor, G. (2012). Videogames and Fictionalism. In H. Fossheim, T. Mandt Larsen, & J. R. Sageng (Eds.), The Philosophy of Computer Games (pp. 185–200). Springer.

Vella, D. (2015). The Ludic Subject and the Ludic Self: Analyzing the “I-in-the-gameworld. IT University of Copenhagen, Center for Computer Games Research. 

Wildt, L. de, Apperley, T. H., Clemens, J., Fordyce, R., & Mukherjee, S. (2020). (Re-)Orienting the Video

WORKSHOP IN BERLIN: 10-11 May, 2024.
Regenbogenfabrik, Lausitzer Str. 21a, Berlin.

Both traditional games and games that take place in virtual environments rely on play states designed around their perceptual features. This is apparent by the fact that they prominently rely on phenomenal spatial structures, but also by a variety of perceptual roles that enter into elements like storytelling, sound, kinesthetic feedback and immersive design.

How should we understand the character of perception in games and virtual environments? While normal perception registers ordinary perceptual properties, players perceive objects and properties imposed by images, rules, symbols and ludic context. In the perception of virtual worlds, users are not perceiving ordinary objects, but rather images and symbols designed to instil imagination and to convey semantic contents. In traditional games the players perceive objects and properties determined by rules and play.

This workshop follows up a seminar held in Athens 2022 with a view to develop the discussions on these issues. Among the questions we wish to explore are:

• Is perception in virtual worlds veridical? Is it appropriate to talk of perception in virtual worlds?
• Do we perceive game properties?
• How should we understand subjectivity and perception mediated by avatars?
• How do cultural and ideological frames shape perceptual experience?
• How does the reality status of objects and properties affect the characterization of perceptual content?
• What are the phenomenal characteristics of gaming experiences?
• How is narrative, fictional worlds and gaming structured around perceptual states?
• How is imagination, make-believe and fantasy related to perception in games?
• How are perceptual schema like space, time, objecthood and modality utilized in gaming?
• What is the relationship between inference and perceptual content in games?
• How do we perceive affordances in games?
• Can the perceptual content of games be analyzed as “seeing as”?
• What are the phenomenal characteristics of perceptual experiences that are distinctive to ludic environments?
• How should we characterize the consciousness that accompanies perception of games and virtual environments?

Contributions from different scholarly approaches are welcome, such as game studies, cognitive science, enactivist perception theory, phenomenology, fiction theory, media philosophy, and classic philosophies of perception.

Please submit an abstract (max 1000 characters) in this form: https://forms.gle/3fc8uDEQw8GJwfxy5 and send a copy to perceptioningames@gmail.com by April 11. We welcome both full papers and more conjectural presentations. We highly appreciate presentations that can be submitted as papers to the Journal of the Philosophy of Games, but the participants are free to publish their work where they want. There will be a small fee (ca 40 euro) to cover rent for the seminar room.

Program committee:
Anita Leirfall, Department of Philosophy, University of Bergen, Norway
John R. Sageng, Game Philosophy Network, Norway
Stephan Günzel, University of Europe for Applied Sciences, Germany
Jussi Holopainen, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Olli Tapio Leino, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Zuzanna Rucinska, University of Antwerp, Belgium

Here is a call for papers for a conference that is not primarily directed at game philosophy, but it has game studies is a target group and the topic of playing games is mentioned.  We just visited Jyväskylä for one of our Nordic workshops in game philosophy and know that there is an interest for our type of work. We highly encourage game philosophers to submit abstracts.

Call for papers

From Kant onwards, the default position when thinking about aesthetic matters has been to start with one individual who appreciates or engages with one object, whether a work of art, an environment, or an everyday item. However, when aiming to grasp the role of aesthetic phenomena in human life, this perspective is insufficient. It overshadows how the significance of art and everyday aesthetic matters, for individuals and communities, evolve through shared histories of practice, where perceptual and creative skills arise from previous experiences and know-how.

Shifting the focus of aesthetics from objects and singular experiences to practices opens novel and fruitful perspectives on how humans form and transform their identity and lifeworld through active and long-term aesthetic engagement in various media. An aesthetic practice, we suggest, is a continuous, repeatedly performed activity of engaging with an art form, a form of popular culture, crafts, sports, or some aspect of one’s everyday environment, where a fundamental motivating factor is pleasure gained through the activity. Instead of contemplation and perception of an object, practice highlights the intrinsic aesthetic relevance of action, doing and making. The approach offers new perspectives on the scope of “aesthetics”.

As a key concept, aesthetic practice foregrounds structural features of our aesthetic life that have previously gained less attention, such as temporality, continuity, multimodality and intersubjectivity. A practice is ongoing, and characterised by tempi and rhythms, times, and places. It is interwoven with the practitioner’s life, while at the same time constituting another space. It is typically shared with other people; inspired by others; or communicated to them.

Finally, aesthetic practices tend to become intimately interwoven, even inseparable from practitioners’ identity, and affect their outlook on life. Continuously engaging with one or several of the arts, popular culture, one’s home environment, or nature, can constitute a tacit or explicit exploration of and reflection on values, the world, and one’s own position in it, in a dynamic balance of receptivity and creativity which is intrinsically valuable.

We welcome proposals on:

– The concept of aesthetic practice; critical assessments

– Everyday aesthetic practices and arts: boundaries and overlappings

– Habits and practices

– Practice and style

– Rhythms of practice

– Everyday rituals as aesthetic practice

– Intersubjectivity in aesthetic practices

– The aesthetic dimension of everyday practices

– The aesthetic dimension of labour and work

– Childhood aesthetic practices

– Aesthetic communicative practices

– Social aesthetics

– Care aesthetics

– Arts as aesthetic practices

– Aesthetic practices in fandom and popular culture

– Playing games as aesthetic practice

– The role of technologies in aesthetic practices

– Shared practices in internet communities and social media

– And more

In addition to contributions from philosophical aesthetics, we welcome proposals from neighbouring fields, the arts, psychology, cultural studies, game studies, sociology, history, media and communication studies, etc., as long as they address phenomena from a perspective of aesthetic practice.

We invite abstracts of 200–300 words. Deadline for abstracts is 15th March 2024.

Link to the main site.