There are multiple courses in higher education today that expose students to elements of game studies, development, design, and associated research methods, but far fewer explore using games directly as a method for research creation. There are emerging themes in the field around curricular efforts that consider the role of games as a method to (1) advance research (broadly defined) through the act of making games; (2) use games as tools for doing research; and (3) creatively present research topics and findings through games. This paper presents a post-mortem analysis of two courses that were designed, developed, and offered to graduate students at separate universities with these topics in mind, describing their success, failure, and lessons learned. One of these universities is largely focused on doctoral students in game studies, while the other is focused on MFA students in game design, and both offer game-centric MA programs, and also opened these courses to other graduate students in related fields. By examining the design, development, and evaluation of these courses as a comparative case study, the authors provide a practical narrative of best practice in the emerging area of games as research creation tools and associated curriculum.

This paper analyzes the social mechanics in top social games. It identifies several mechanisms by which social games encourage sociality: the friend bar, gifting, visiting, challenge/competition, and communication. Different implementations of these components result in varying gameplay experiences. However, no mechanics were found to offer very deep or sustained social interactions between players.

Scholarly attention to game culture has mostly focused on games that cater to gamers that the literature has deemed 'hardcore,' 'heavy' or at least 'mainstream,' games. Researchers doing so have explored how those who put in large amounts of time playing such games are also productive of the culture surrounding the game. Yet in relation to casual games and their players, we have seen a curious omission. Are elements of game culture such as game capital and the creation and avid use of paratexts specific to traditional gamers? And if not, do casual players differ in specific or important ways from those norms? This paper uses a case study approach to investigate those questions, as well as to draw attention to a neglected group---devoted fans of casual games.