Annually: “Game Tracks” at HICSS in January
The Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS) first took place in 1968, and it is one of the oldest scientific conferences in the world. The conference has been ranked the first among information systems conferences and business conferences in terms of citations, and it attracts more than 6000 contributing researchers annually. Since recent years, HICSS has offered specialized tracks and minitracks for scholars conducting research related to games and gamification.
At HICSS, Professor Juho Hamari is the leading scholar in games and gamification, authoring outstanding papers and having been chairing several tracks throughout the years. The conference welcomes paper submissions from any disciplinary background, and the submission deadline is typically in June. From 2017, the proceedings are published by ScholarSpace (ISSN 2572-6862). In addition, the authors of accepted papers are typically offered a chance to fast-track extended versions of their papers to journals like Internet research (ISSN 1066-2243) and AIS Transactions on Human-Computer Interaction (ISSN 1944-3900). HICSS proceedings on games and gamification can be found e.g. here: 2022 (games and gaming) and 2023 (esports, games and gaming).
Annually: GamiFIN in April
The Annual International GamiFIN conference is the leading international conference for gamification research. Arranged every year in the wilderness of Northern Finland, GamiFIN welcomes submissions from various domains under the gamification spectrum, including – but not limited to – health, culture, education, governance, design, work and technology. Known for its warm, collaborative, and inspiring atmosphere, the conference participants have enjoyed keynotes and workshops from notable visiting scholars like as Lennart Nacke, Sebastian Deterding, Katherine Isbister, Richard Landers, and T.L. Taylor.
The conference is Chaired by our leading researchers, such as Professor Juho Hamari and Assistant Professors Nannan Xi and Oguz ‘Oz’ Buruk, and it welcomes paper submissions, posters, and doctoral consortium applications. Call for papers is typically published in June, and the paper submission deadline is typically in November. Accepted papers are sent for consideration for open-access publication in the CEUR Workshop Proceedings (ISSN 1613-0073) in the GamiFIN Conference volume. Previous years’ proceedings can be found here: 2021, 2022 and 2023.
In 2024: Board Game Studies Colloquium in April
The Board Game Studies Colloquium (BGSC) is an annual academic, multidisciplinary gathering addressing new research and inventions in board games and non-digital gaming in general. The 26th BGSC is held in Tampere and Chaired by Assistant Professor Mattia Thibault, welcoming presentation proposals relating to all aspects and forms of non-digital gaming. In 2024 the Colloquium will be exploring especially the relations between material cultures, intangible heritages, performativity in games, and the dematerialisation and digitisation of board games. The deadline for submissions is December 15th. All papers presented at the colloquium will be considered for publication in the Board Game Studies Journal (ISSN 2183-3311).
Annually: Game Research Lab International Spring Seminar in May
The annual Game Research Lab International Spring Seminar, first held in 2005, is the longest running international seminar in game studies. The seminar theme changes annually, but it encompasses a wide range of topics in game studies, welcoming also work-in -progress submissions, working papers and late-breaking results. The theme and the call for papers is typically published in November. The extended abstract submission deadline is typically in February and full paper deadline typically in April. In the past, the seminar has been collaborating with journals like Games and Culture (ISSN 1555-4139) and International Journal of Role-Playing (ISSN 2210-4909) to publish the best papers.
Annually: Academic Mindtrek in October
The annual International Academic Mindtrek Conference is a meeting platform for researchers, experts, and thinkers from the field of human-computer interaction to present their work regarding the latest developments in novel technologies, media, and digital culture. Typically, the conference has tracks devoted to e.g. games and gamification, metaverse, human-technology interaction, and augmented realities.
The conference is Chaired by Postdoctoral Research Fellow Mila Bujić, and it welcomes full papers, posters and doctoral consortium submissions, as well as demonstration and workshop proposals. The call for papers is typically published in April. The deadline for full papers and workshop submissions is typically in June, and the deadline for posters, demonstration proposals and doctoral consortium submissions typically in August. All accepted contributions will be published in ACM Digital Library. Previous years’ proceedings can be found here.
In 2024: CHI Play in October
The ACM SIGCHI Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play (CHI PLAY) is a recent but growing international and interdisciplinary conference for scholars and professionals across all areas of play and games. In 2024, CHI PLAY is arranged in Tampere and chaired by Assistant Professor Oguz ‘Oz’ Buruk and Professor Juho Hamari. The conference welcomes contributions that further our understanding on games and how and why we play them. The deadline for papers is typically in February, and the deadline for other contributions is typically in June. All accepted papers will be published in ACM Digital Library. Previous years’ proceedings can be found here.
In addition
Tampere University hosts several smaller events related to games and play. Our unique social space Oasis at central campus hosts smaller open events on weekly basis, and in addition we host game jams, student gaming events and special events in e.g. human-nature interaction, accessibility in esports and more.
In addition, our home city Tampere is offering several other major events in games and play in 2024, including annual network game event LanTrek in March, Nordic role-playing game conference and community event Solmukohta in April and annual anime- and role-playing convention Tracon in September.