Mary Talks Pro-Social Game Design on the Ludology Podcast

Resonym’s CEO, Mary Flanagan, recently joined Gil Hova and Emma Larkins on an episode of the Ludology podcast. During the hour-long episode, Mary discusses a wide variety of topics relating to pro-social game design and the ways in which designers can make games that are not only fun, but that also build empathy and challenge our biases. The discussion begins with Mary’s work at her lab, Tiltfactor, and the games Profit Seed and Layoff. The discussion then moves to Mary’s card games, Buffalo and Awkward Moment, which were researched by Tiltfactor and published by us here at Resonym! Mary explains how the games work to increase their players’ social identity complexity and fight prejudices the players might hold. As the gaming industry—ever so slowly—works towards becoming more inclusive, it is crucial that, as players we recognize and challenge the prejudices and biases that we have, not only in life, but at the gaming table.

You can find the episode here.