Publications

  • Zagal, J.P. (2023) “When the Abstract Becomes Concrete”, in Randl, C. and D. Medina Lasansky (Eds), Playing Place, pp. 127-129, MIT Press. Published, 08/15/2023.
    https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262047838/playing-pla...
  • Cardona-Rivera, R., Zagal, José P., Debus, M. (2023), “Aligning Story and Gameplay Through Narrative Goals”, Entertainment Computing.Vol 47. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.entcom.2023.100577. Published, 08/01/2023.
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.entcom.2023.100577
  • Zagal, J. P. (2023) “Considering Large Student Teams in Game Development Education: A Post-Mortem”, Proceedings of the 2023 International Conference of the Digital Games Research Association (DiGRA), 19-23 June, Sevilla, Spain. Published, 06/19/2023.
    http://digra.org:9998/DiGRA_2023_CR_955.pdf
  • Zagal, J. P. (2023) “Using Dark Gameplay Design Patterns for Game Ethics Education”, Morality Play Workshop @DiGRA2023, 19-23 June 2023, Sevilla Spain. Published, 06/19/2023.
    http://moralityplay.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07...
  • Cardona-Rivera, R. E., Zagal, J. P., Debus, M.S. (2022) “Game System Models: Toward Semantic Foundations for Technical Game Analysis, Generation, and Design”, Proceedings of the Eighteenth AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence for Interactive Digital Entertainment Conference (AIIDE2022), Pomona, California, October 24-28, 2022. https://ojs.aaai.org/index.php/AIIDE/article/download/21942/21711. Published, 10/24/2022.
    https://ojs.aaai.org/index.php/AIIDE/article/downl...
  • Cox, M., Zagal J. (2022) “Sustainability in City-Building Games”, Proceedings of the International Conference of the Digital Games Research Association (DiGRA), July 7-11, Krakow, Poland. Published, 07/2022.
    http://www.digra.org/digital-library/publications/...
  • José Zagal, Thorkild Hanghøj, Lise Møller, Charlotte Lærke Weitze, Jari Due Jessen, Miruna Vozaru (organizer) (2022) “Games in the Classroom”, Game Analysis Conference, IT University of Copenhagen, April 2-23, 2022. Published, 04/2022.
  • Zagal, J.P. (2021) “The ‘Well Played’ Con”, in Davidson, D., Fay, I,, Fernandez-Vara, C. Pinckard, J., Sharp, J. (Eds) Well-Played Retrospective: The Past, Pandemic and Future of Video Games, Value and Meaning, pp 149- 151, ETC Press. https://press.etc.cmu.edu/index.php/product/well-played-retrospective/. Published, 09/2021.
    https://press.etc.cmu.edu/books/well-played-retros...
  • Zagal, J.P. (2021) “Ethics in Videogames (EAE 3020)”, in Ferdig, R., Baumgartner, E. and Gandolfi, E. (Eds),Teaching the Game: A Collection of Syllabi for Game Design, Development, and Implementation Vol. 1, pp. 42-62, ETC Press, https://press.etc.cmu.edu/index.php/product/teaching-the-game-volume-1/. Published, 07/2021.
    https://press.etc.cmu.edu/index.php/product/teachi...
  • Zagal, J.P. (2020) “Collaborative Games Redux: New Lessons from the Past 10 Years”, in MacCallum-Stewart, E. and Brown, D. (Eds), Rerolling Boardgames, pp 29-47, McFarland Press. Published, 11/2020.
  • Cardona-Rivera, R. E., Zagal, J. P., Debus, M.S. (2020) “GFI: A Formal Approach to Narrative Design and Game Research”, 13th International Conference on Interactive Digital Storytelling (ICIDS 2020), 3-6 November, Bornemouth, UK. [Runner-up for Best Paper Award]. Published, 11/2020.
    http://www.rogel.io/content/2-publications/cardona...
  • Debus, Michael S., Zagal, José P., Cardona-Rivera, Rogelio (2020), “A Typology of Game Goals”, Game Studies 20(3). http://gamestudies.org/2003/articles/debus_zagal_cardonarivera. Published, 09/2020.
    http://gamestudies.org/2003/articles/debus_zagal_c...
  • Cardona-Rivera, R. E., Zagal, J. P., Debus, M.S. (2020) “Narrative Goals in Games: A Novel Nexus of Story and Gameplay”, Foundations of Digital Games (FDG) Conference, September 15-18, Malta. [in-person conference was cancelled due to Covid-19]. Published, 09/2020.
    https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3402942.3402986
  • Salge, C. (organizer), Compton, K., Juul, J., Sullivan, A., Zagal, J. [participants in alphabetical order] (2020) “Designing Games for Remote Play”, Foundations of Digital Games 2020, Malta, 15-18, Sept, 2020. (held online due to Covid-19). Published, 09/2020.
  • Zagal, J. P. (2020) “An Overview of Institutional Support for Game Students in Higher Education”, Proceedings of the 2020 DiGRA International Conference, June 2-6, Tampere, Finland [in-person conference was cancelled due to Covid-19]. Published, 06/2020.
  • Zagal, J. P. (2019) “An Analysis of Early 1980s English Language Commercial TRPG Definitions”, Analog Game Studies, 2019 Role-Playing Game Summit Special Issue, http://analoggamestudies.org/2019/12/an-analysis-of-early-1980s-english-language-commercial-trpg-definitions/ Earlier version presented at DiGRA 2019 Role-Playing Game Summit. Published, 12/2019.
    http://analoggamestudies.org/2019/12/an-analysis-o...
  • Zagal, J. P., Debus, M.S., Cardona-Rivera, R. E. (2019) “On the Ultimate Goals of Games: Winning, Finishing, and Prolonging”, 13th International Philosophy of Computer Games Conference, October 21-24, St Petersburg, Russia. Published, 10/2019.
  • Zagal, J.P. (Ed) (2019) “Game Design Snacks: Easily Digestible Game Design Wisdom”, ETC Press : Pittsburgh, http://press.etc.cmu.edu/index.php/product/game-design-snacks-easily-digestible-game-design-wisdom/. Published, 06/2019.
  • Zagal, J. (2019) “Jams, Clubs, Shows, and More: An Overview of Institutional Support for Game Students”, Game Developers Conference 2019 – Education Summit, San Francisco, CA, Mar 18-22. Published, 03/2019.
  • Abstract Hex Dice (2019) (Game) 3rd Place in BryceCon V Game Design Competition, Jan 18-21, 2019. Published, 01/2019.
  • Bateman, C., Zagal J. (2018) “Game Design Lineages: Minecraft’s Inventory”, Transactions of the Digital Games Research Association (ToDiGRA). Vol 3. No. 3, 13-46. http://todigra.org/index.php/todigra/article/view/77/132. Published, 10/2018.
    http://todigra.org/index.php/todigra/article/view/...
  • Rothwell, E., Johnson, E., Wong, B., Rose, N., Latendresse, G., Altizer, R., Zagal, J., Smid, M., Watson, A., Botkin, J. (2018) “The use of a Game-Based Decision Aid to educate pregnant couples about prenatal genetic screening: A randomized controlled study”, American Journal of Perinatology. 14 August 2018, eFirst. Published, 08/2018.
  • Deterding, S. Medler, B. Flick C., Drachen, A., van Roessel L., Zagal, J.P. (2018) “The Coming Sh*t Storm? Game Research and Design Ethics after Facebook”, Foundations of Digital Games 2018, Malmo, Sweden, August 7-10. Published, 08/2018.
  • Zagal, J. (2018) “Role-Playing Game Studies: The Big Picture”, Living Games 2018, Boston MA, May 17-20. Published, 05/2018.
  • Deterding, S., Zagal, J. P. (2018) “The Many Faces of RPG Studies”, in Zagal, J. P., Deterding, S. (Eds), Role-Playing Games Studies: Transmedia Foundations, pp1-16, Routledge. Published, 04/2018.
  • Zagal, J.P., Deterding, S. (2018) “Definitions of Role-Playing Games”, in Zagal, J. P., Deterding, S. (Eds), Role-Playing Games Studies: Transmedia Foundations, pp19-52, Routledge. Published, 04/2018.
  • Zagal J. P., Deterding S. (Eds) (2018) “Role-Playing Games Studies: Transmedia Foundations”, Routledge. https://www.routledge.com/Role-Playing-Game-Studies-Transmedia-Foundations/Deterding-Zagal/p/book/9781138638907. Published, 04/2018.
    https://www.routledge.com/Role-Playing-Game-Studie...
  • Björk, S., Zagal, J.P. (2018) “Game Design and Role-Playing Games”, in Zagal, J. P., Deterding, S. (Eds), Role-Playing Games Studies: Transmedia Foundations, pp 323-336, Routledge. Published, 04/2018.
  • Nay, J., Zagal, J. (2017) “Meaning without Consequence: Virtue Ethics and Inconsequential Choices in Games”, Foundations of Digital Games (FDG) Conference, Cape Cod, MA, August 14-17, 2017. Published, 08/2017.
    https://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=3102073
  • Zagal, J. (2017) “War Ethics: A Framework for Analysing Videogames”, DiGRA 2017 Conference, Melbourne Australia, 3-6 July.Zagal, J. (2017) “War Ethics: A Framework for Analysing Videogames”, DiGRA 2017 Conference, Melbourne Australia, 3-6 July. Published, 07/2017.
    http://www.digra.org/digital-library/publications/...
  • Zagal, J.P. (2017) “Lord British” in Mejia, R., Banks, J., and Adams, A. (Eds), 100 Greatest Video Game Characters, Rowan and Littlefield. Published, 06/2017.
  • Bateman, C., Zagal J. (2017) “Game Design Lineages: Minecraft’s Inventory”, DiGRA UK 2017 Conference, Salford UK, May 5, 2017. Published, 05/2017.
  • Shipman JP, Casucci T, Altizer RA, Zagal JP. (2017) “Shhh! A Library and an Innovation Center Unite!” VentureWell 21st Annual Open Conference. Washington DC, March 24-25, 2017. Published, 03/2017.
  • Torres-Toukoumidis, A., Zagal J. P., Pérez-Rodríguez M. A. (2016) “Juegos, Comunicación y Sociedad: La Comunicación Institucional como Factor de Desarrollo Social”, in L. M. Romero-Rodríguez, R. Mancinas-Chávez (Eds), Comunicación Institucional y Desarrollo Social, Editorial Egregius. Published, 12/2016.
  • Nguyen, T., Zagal J. (2016) “Good Violence, Bad Violence: The Ethics of Competition in Multiplayer Games”, First Joint International DiGRA FDG Conference, August 1-6, Dundee, Scotland. Published, 08/2016.
    http://www.digra.org/wp-content/uploads/digital-li...
  • Casucci, T., Shipman, Jean O., Altizer, R., Zagal J. (2016) “Shhh! We’re Making Games in the Library and You Can Too”, First Joint International DiGRA FDG Conference, August 1-6, Dundee, Scotland. Published, 08/2016.
  • Putnam, C., Zagal, J. P., Cheng, J., (2016) “You are Not the Player: Teaching Games User Research to Undergraduate Students” in Garcia-Ruiz, M. (Ed), Usability Testing of Video Games: Multidisciplinary Case Studies, CRC Press/Taylor and Francis. Published, 07/2016.
  • Zagal, J. P. (2016) “On Chairing a Games Research Conference”, Transactions of the Digital Games Research Association (ToDiGRA), Vol. 2 No. 2. pp. 5-20. Published, 06/2016.
    http://todigra.org/index.php/todigra/article/view/...
  • Zagal, J.P., Altizer, R. (2016) “DiGRA 2014: Celebrating the Diversity of Games Research”, Transactions of the Digital Games Research Association (ToDiGRA), Vol. 2 No. 2. Published, 06/2016.
    http://todigra.org/index.php/todigra/article/view/...
  • Zagal, J.P. (2016) “Values at Play in Digital Games”, American Journal of Play, Vol. 8 No. 2, pp. 283-284. Published, 05/2016.
  • Zagal, J., Deterding, S. (2016) “What Larp can Learn from Role-Playing Game Studies”, 2016 Living Games Conference, May 19-22, 2016, Austin TX. Published, 04/2016.
  • Wozniak, K., Zagal, J.P. (2016) “Exploring Adult Learners' Metacognition: A Survey of In-Person and Online Adult Learners”, 2016 Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA), April 8-12, Washington DC. Published, 04/2016.
  • Zagal, J.P. (Ed) (2012), The Videogames Ethics Reader, Cognella : San Diego CA https://titles.cognella.com/behavioral-and-social-sciences/communication/the-videogame-ethics-reader-9781609276355.html. Published, 05/2012.
    https://titles.cognella.com/the-videogame-ethics-r...
  • Zagal, J. P., Tomuro, N., Shepitsen, A., (2011) “Natural Language Processing for Games Studies Research”, Simulation & Gaming. Published online before print, October 12, 2011, doi: 10.1177/1046878111422560. Published, 10/2011.
  • Murphy, J. & Zagal J. P. (2011) “Videogames and the Ethics of Care”, International Journal of Gaming and Computer-Mediated Simulations. Vol. 3, No. 3, 69-81. Published, 05/2011.
  • Zagal, J. P., Bruckman, A. (2011) “Blogging for Facilitating Understanding: A Study of Videogame Education”, International Journal of Learning and New Media. Vol. 3, No. 1, 7-27. Published, 04/2011.
  • Zagal, J.P. (2010), Ludoliteracy: Defining, Understanding, and Supporting Games Education, ETC Press : Pittsburgh, http://press.etc.cmu.edu/content/ludoliteracy-defining-understanding-and-supporting-games-education. Published, 05/2010.
  • Zagal, J.P. & Mateas, M., (2010) “Time in Videogames: A Survey and Analysis”, Simulation & Gaming. Vol. 41, No. 6, 844-868 Reprinted in: Lankoski, P. & Björk, S. (Eds) (2015). “Game Research Methods”, ETC Press, Pittsburgh, PA. Published, 02/2010.
  • Zagal, J. P., Bruckman, A, (2010) “Designing Online Environments for Expert/Novice Collaboration: Wikis to Support Legitimate Peripheral Participation”, Convergence. Vol. 16, No., 4 451-470. Published, 01/2010.
  • Zagal, J.P., Bruckman, A. (2008) "Novices, Gamers, and Scholars", Game Studies. Vol. 8, No. 2, December 2008. Note: This article was featured at the 2009 Game Developers Conference (GDC) as one of the top ten game studies research findings from 2008. Main criteria for selection is the direct relevance of the researchers' insights to the future innovation of game design and development. Published, 06/2008.
    http://gamestudies.org/0802/articles/zagal_bruckma...
  • Zagal, J. P., Fernandez-Vara, C., Mateas, M. (2008) “Rounds, Levels, and Waves: The Early Evolution of Gameplay Segmentation”, Games & Culture. Vol. 3. No. 2, 175-198. Published, 05/2008.
  • Zagal, J.P., Rick, J., Hsi, I. (2006) “Collaborative Games: Lessons Learned from Board Games”, Simulation & Gaming Vol. 37, No. 1, 24-40. Published, 06/2006.
  • Zagal, J.P., Bruckman, A. (2005) "From Samba Schools to Computer Clubhouses: Cultural Institutions as Learning Environments", Convergence 11:1, 88-105. Published, 05/2005.
  • Zagal, J.P., Santelices, R., Nussbaum, M. (2002) "Maintenance Oriented Design and Development: A Case Study", IEEE Software - July-August 2002, 100-106. Published, 07/2002.
  • Zagal, J.P., Nussbaum, M., Rosas, R. (2000) "A Model to Support the Design of Multiplayer Games", Presence, Vol. 9, No. 5, October 2000, 448-462. Published, 10/2000.

Presentations

  • 1er Congreso Internacional DiGRA Mexico 2023 (DiGRAMX) “Videogames are Gimmicks”, Mexico City, Mexico, October 16-17, 2023. Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 10/16/2023.
  • “Chilean Videogames: 1970s-1980s”, Keynote Presentation at The Hispanic and Latin American Video Gaming Experience Conference, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas, February 25 and 26, 2022. Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 02/25/2022.
  • Guest Interviewee on "Ethics and Video Games Podcast". Invited to talk about intellectual property and videogames. Duration: 1 hour. Other, Presented, 12/07/2021.
    https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-31-h...
  • “Dark Patterns and Game Designers”, November, 2021 part of Defusing Dark Patterns Conference: Current Technical and Legal Approaches. (Hosted by: Dark Pattern Detection Project, German Research Institute for Public Administration and the University Heidelberg). Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 11/2021.
  • Guest Interviewee on "Ethics and Video Games Podcast". Invited to talk about teaching ethics and videogames. Duration: 1 hour. Other, Presented, 08/03/2021.
    https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/teaching-eth...
  • Indiecade Horizons 2021, Live Game Feedback with Experts Part 1. Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 06/12/2021.
    https://youtu.be/aN-G7sJ7mPQ
  • “Videojuegos: Desafios y Oportunidades del Decimo Arte”, Distinguished Guest Speaker for "Charlas VRiD: Conocimiento que Transforma", Universidad de Concepción, Concepción, Chile, May 13, 2021. Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 05/13/2021.
  • “Game Design (it’s always about ethics)”, University of York, York, Great Britain, February 7, 2020. Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 02/07/2020.
  • "Good for You Games: In Healthcare, Wellness, and Education" presented at FanX 2019, Salt Lake City, UT. Other, Presented, 04/20/2019.
  • "Lets Talk about Game Design" - Gamecraft Club, University of Utah. Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 09/14/2018.
  • "Why go to School for Gaming" presented at DragonCon 2018. Other, Presented, 09/01/2018.
  • "Esports and Education" presented at DragonCon2018. Other, Presented, 08/31/2018.
  • "Estudios de Caso: Analisis de Criticas de Videojuegos", Escuela de Ingenieria, Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile, Santiago, Chile, June 22, 2018. Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 06/22/2018.
  • "Games Academia 101: Primer for Junior Academics" presented at Living Games 2018. Other, Presented, 05/19/2018.
  • "The Nuts and Bolts of RPG Research" presented at Living Games 2018. Other, Presented, 05/18/2018.
  • "History and Videogames" - Guest Lecture for University of Utah HIST3100 (Historian’s Craft), . Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 11/16/2017.
  • "Toys that are Changing the Future of Gaming" presented at DragonCon 2017. Other, Presented, 09/03/2017.
  • “Unusual Jobs in the Videogame Industry” presented at DragonCon 2017. Other, Presented, 09/03/2017.
  • "Top Ten Reasons Why you Should Gamejam" presented at DragonCon 2017. Other, Presented, 09/02/2017.
  • “Going to School for Videogames” presented at DragonCon 2016 (Atlanta, GA). Other, Presented, 09/04/2016.
  • "Virtual Reality in Video Gaming" presented at DragonCon 2016 (Atlanta, GA). Other, Presented, 09/03/2016.
  • “Unusual Jobs in the Videogame Industry” presented at DragonCon 2016 (Atlanta, GA). Other, Presented, 09/03/2016.
  • Emerging Technologies and the Future of Gaming” at DragonCon 2016. Other, Presented, 09/02/2016.
  • “Flying by the seat of your pants: Don’t (Experiences experimenting with games education)”, Keynote presentation for Teaching Game Studies Workshop, Dundee, Scotland. Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 08/02/2016.
  • “Moral Reflection and Development Through Play”, Uppsala University, Uppsala Sweden. Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 02/04/2016.
  • “Videogame Interfaces and Ethics: Unlikely Partners?”, Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Stockholm Sweden. Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 02/03/2016.
  • “What Could Go Wrong? Videogames and Healthcare Interventions”, University of Utah – Evening Ethics Seminars, . Invited Talk/Keynote, Presented, 01/13/2016.

Languages

  • English, fluent.
  • Spanish, fluent.

Grants, Contracts & Research Gifts

  • Representations of Sustainability in City-Building Videogames. PI: Jose P Zagal. Sustainable Campus Initiative Fund (SCIF), 08/2019 - 04/2020. Total project budget to date: $1,000.00