As we turn to queer independent games, we tune our senses to their appearance, narrative structure, and stories to arrive at what authentic queer experiences can be through the lens of queergaming. In this paper, we propose to queer game studies via a multidisciplinary triangulation of critiquing games and theorising queer experiences through queer theory, by counting queer representation in queer indie games, and by conducting a thematic game analysis with two case studies on a collection of LGBT games on itch.io. By orienting ourselves to the desire of having agency as a queer person, we will show how queer indie games provide authentic embodiment of queer experiences. Although our qualitative sample is relatively small to be statistically significant, we found the gender representation of queer character seem to mimic that of global industry game developer surveys, and we also report the proportions of LGBT games by platform, genre, tools, language, and price points. We also reported the representation of queer pairings, which to our knowledge has not been reported elsewhere. Through the thematic analysis, we identified three themes throughout the game collection, and present two brief case studies on smartphone messaging apps and the use of queer horror in the game sample. This work fills a gap in the literature on what queer experiences are in games through illustrating human connections in queer indie games.

Idea networks are inherently illustrative of the domain knowledge they seek to capture. They provide pathways to retrace known paths, and to explore the unknown. In this study, we conceptualised an idea network of 639 roguelike games, using data collected from RogueBasin and other sources, and conducted a user study for designer insight. Study participants interacted with three idea network visualisations that support exploration of design influence, accompanied by a brief historical context of roguelike games, and our design process of visualisations. The study uncovered 6 classes of insights from game developers: thinking in networks, insights on data consistency, accessibility and usability, visualisation preferences, exploring related games, and data contributions from the community. The study is limited by the data sources available about design influences, acknowledging that idea networks are only a partial representation of the full picture, which cannot be known. However, this paper shows that even a partial idea network can be useful for exploring the ancestry of roguelikes and their design influences. It also showed how idea networks can facilitate knowledge sharing through online conversations and new lines of inquiry.

Brainstorming is an important part of creative design, related to exploring the associativity of different ideas and the combination of their parts. Previous work has investigated social interactions, productivity, techniques, and quality of brainstorming activities. The paper contributes to this body of work by studying the design affordances of brainstorming toolkits, and the relationship between idea associations and brainstorming. We examined 21 brainstorming toolkits designed for creative brainstorming within the context of game design, which led us to four tiers of design affordances that specify the supportive qualities of toolkits for brainstorming. To gain further insights into the use of tools, we surveyed game jams participants about their brainstorming activities and the use of tools at Global Game Jam 2017. We found a large number of participants using traditional stationery to aid brainstorming and a common usage of mind mapping and rearranging post-it notes. These findings inform our discussion of how idea creation is leveraged by a hybrid use of traditional and digital tools.

course Share on State-of-the-art webGL 2.0 Authors: Xavier Ho The University of Sydney The University of SydneyView Profile , Juan Miguel de Joya DigitalFish DigitalFishView Profile , Neil Trevett NVIDIA NVIDIAView Profile Authors Info & Claims SA '17: SIGGRAPH Asia 2017 CoursesNovember 2017 Article No.: 16Pages 1–51https://doi.org/10.1145/3134472.3134479Published:27 November 2017Publication History 0citation262DownloadsMetricsTotal Citations0Total Downloads262Last 12 Months12Last 6 weeks2 Get Citation AlertsNew Citation Alert added!This alert has been successfully added and will be sent to:You will be notified whenever a record that you have chosen has been cited.To manage your alert preferences, click on the button below.Manage my AlertsNew Citation Alert!Please log in to your account Save to BinderSave to BinderCreate a New BinderNameCancelCreateExport CitationPublisher SiteGet Access

In the fast changing, hybrid and multi-disciplinary practices of artful information visualisation (artful infoVis) and artists using data to inform artworks, the act of translating data into an image can be fraught with peril. There is considerable debate around modes of visualization and their relationship with the underlying data. This paper outlines the debate between the opposing ideologies and, through assessment of design considerations and comparison of creative practice and visual analytics, formulates a set of guidelines for creative practitioners developing visualisations for Non-Expert Users (NEUVis).