Alternative Ecologies Jam

Emilie Reed

Ecology shares a root with economy, and in the case of videogames, these concepts seem inherently linked. There is much work to be done towards justice in these areas, but emerging games, critical writing, historical work and ways of working together in this area present exciting potential. This activity brings together experimental game design and games criticism to create a space for discussion, responses and calls to action on the theme of games, ecosystems, and economies. Contributions to the jam can be answers, considerations, calls to action or playful responses to these questions, and can take the form of a blog post, zine, comic, game, rule set or any other creative medium.

Running throughout the festival, this jam brings together critical games writing and the themes of the festival. Participants will draw from examples and contribute their own writing, micro-games, or calls to action about gaming’s relation to economic and ecological issues. Following the jam, there will be sharing sessions to reflect on everyone’s contributions.

More information on the themes of the jam, and how to join can be found here.

Emilie Reed is a curator, writer and researcher based in Glasgow who is interested in alternative histories of gaming, DIY game-making communities online and game-making tools.