Plot Twisters to Present at Oxford Internet Institute's Inclusive Gaming Conference

Game design collective to join “Co-design Practices for Games” discussion

Led by Jenny Liu Zhang, Plot Twisters has been creating Twisterland, an immersive online game for nurturing emotional literacy, personal narrative building, and self-advocacy skills in young people since 2020.

On May 1, 2024, the group will present on “Twisterland: Interactive online game world for fostering diverse personal narrative building,” as part of the Inclusive Gaming Conference’s “Co-design Practices for Games” panel. Plot Twisters will also take part in the “Hour of Play” segment, where demos and interactive experiences from conference participants will be available to the attendees.

More about the conference at The Oxford Internet Institute:

The Inclusive Gaming Conference will be a one-day conference which brings together students, academics, and industry professionals to discuss research initiatives, works in progress, and future directions for explorations of inclusive gaming. The day will consist of a series of roundtable discussions, keynote speakers, diverse presentations, and interactive gaming experiences. This event will be jointly run by the Oxford Games & Technologies Group and the Cheng Kar Shun Digital Hub at Jesus College Oxford.

Despite over 60% of UK adults playing video games, there is still a lack of diversity in the ways we research, talk about, create and play games. This conference aims to amplify voices not commonly heard in gaming spaces. We hope to facilitate discussions about accessibility, neurodiversity, decolonialisation, gender, socioeconomic barriers, and other factors which influence inclusivity in gaming. Focusing on interdisciplinary approaches and cross-industry experience exchange, we aim to bring together people from different backgrounds and perspectives to critically explore possible futures of inclusive gaming, try out interactive game demos, and play together.

We particularly encourage the participation of people and projects who are not routinely represented in the gaming world. Any project which discusses, develops, or implements approaches to inclusive gaming, whether through critical engagement or play, is welcome to apply.

Focus areas may include, but are not limited to, explorations of:

• Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Initiatives in Gaming Spaces
• Inclusive Programming
• Accessibility and Hardware
• Diversity in Gaming Narratives
• Gamification and Critical Knowledge Production
• Games for Impact
• Games and Identity
• XR/AR/MR/VR Games and their Futures
• Games and Heritage
• Posthuman Gaming
• Ethical Monetisation Approaches for Games
• Interactive Storytelling
• Mobile Gaming Practices
• Inclusive Competitive Gaming
• Innovative Gaming Spaces
• Sustainability and Gaming

See also: oxford.games | twitter thread