Blog of Abstracts

Julia Tyll-Schranz is a historian based at the “Verein für Geschichte der ArbeiterInnenbewegung” (Association for the history of the worker’s movement). Her research has focused on worker’s and migration history, as well as oral history and memory cultures. She is currently pursuing a PhD at the University of Vienna, where she also conducted academic research and teaching at the Chair for Transregional Historical Studies from 2020 to 2024. From 2012 to 2020, she worked as a guide and researcher for the Red Vienna exhibition at Karl-Marx-Hof. Julia Tyll-Schranz holds degrees in Development Studies and History.

Mateusz Gorecki has over two decades of experience in game development, beginning in the late 1990s with a self-taught passion for the craft. Throughout his career, he has contributed to the successful launch of more than 30 game titles across various platforms. In 2006, he co-founded the Austrian game studio Rarebyte, where he serves as game director, guiding the creative and artistic vision of numerous projects. Beyond his role at Rarebyte, Mateusz is an ambassador for the Pioneers of Game Development Austria (PGDA), helping to foster collaboration and growth within the Austrian game development community.

Martin Greunz is a project manager for digitization at the Vienna Chamber of Labour. He is particularly interested in game-based learning and is passionate about developing creative products. He is committed to shaping the digital future without jeopardizing fundamental rights such as the protection of personal data. He holds degrees in law and business administration.

Manchester 4.0

FROG 2024 – Talk

We will introduce a mobile game that is currently being developed by Studio Rarebyte on behalf of the Vienna Chamber of Labour (AK Wien). It is a collaborative multiplayer game that deals with the exploitation of the working class. One of the most striking examples was Manchester Capitalism in the 19th century. Child labour, inhumane working conditions, endless working hours, starvation wages and a lack of social benefits characterized this period. But we know that precarious and inhumane conditions still exist worldwide. The current situation in textile factories in many countries around the world is reminiscent of the darkest chapters in the history of workers. Is humanity not making any progress in this regard? Do the promises of technology also benefit workers or are we stepping back in time?

The game starts in a society of workers that can be set during the Industrial Revolution or in a dystopian future. The players try to create better working and living conditions for society. In doing so, they encounter enormous resistance that they have to overcome together. The gameplay is a great challenge and offers new opportunities for interaction and collaboration. Because if collective interests are neglected, a social apocalypse threatens. It will be released as a mobile game in the first quarter of 2025.

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Christoph Kaindel was one of the founders of Ariochs Erben, the first Live Action Roleplay association in Austria, in 1989. He has embodied zombies in many LARPs and in various situations, including rising from a shallow grave. Christoph was employed as action coordinator in several theatrical productions and as zombie movement coach for a few movie projects in schools. In 2010 he wrote and co-directed (with Gen Seto) the mockumentary short „Zombieversum“. He works as a media educator for the Wiener Bildungsserver.

Zombie is just a state of mind

FROG 2024 – Talk

When the Zombie Apocalypse arrives, it will be of vital importance to move unrecognized among the Walking Dead. In this short hands-on workshop you will acquire all the necessary skills to survive in an undead-infested environment. We will focus on mimicking the classic slow zombie, or “Romero zombie”, as the most common variant. After getting into the zombie mindset, or lack thereof, we will practice zombie facial expressions (aka RZF), zombie posture, the zombie shuffle and the zombie groan. Finally we will combine all this and move together mindlessly as a zombie horde, driven only by unquenchable hunger.

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I studied Philosophy and Political Science, work as an educator, trainer and project developer in the field of political education, peace education, life skill education and global citzienship education. I am the Chief Creative Director and author of the World Climate Game.

How to win the world climate game

FROG 2024 – Talk

In my talk I will present the educational App-Simulation-Roleplay-Boardgame “Weltklimaspiel”, designed to play over at least three days with a large Group (25 to 50 people). It is developed to raise awareness of the causes of the global climate crisis and to empower the participants to be an active part of the solution. I will talk about the gamedesign, the methodology and the results of the ongoing scientific evaluation.

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Kseniia is a doctoral candidate at the University of Klagenfurt, Austria. Her dissertation project focuses on developing a virtual reality game aimed at enhancing empathy in the context of forced migration experiences. Kseniia received her Master’s degree in Game Studies and Engineering from the University of Klagenfurt and a Bachelor’s degree in Software Engineering from the National Technical University of Ukraine. Kseniia is also involved in community organizing and promotes diversity in games. Last year she started the “Games Intersectional” local community for marginalized people in the video games industry and academia.

Unraveling the Romanticization of Colonial, Imperial and Authoritarian Narratives in Modern Video Games

FROG 2024 – Talk

In the current landscape of video games, the portrayal of historical and political themes has become increasingly influential. This paper explores the subtle ways in which popular games, such as “The Battle of Polytopia,” “Root,” “Lil’ Guardsman,” and “Stray” normalize and, in some cases, romanticize the narratives of colonialism, imperialism, and authoritarianism. These games offer a unique lens to examine how contemporary digital media recreates and reinterprets historical power dynamics.

“The Battle of Polytopia” presents a simplified, mobile strategy experience where players expand their empires through conquest and development, cloaked in minimalist aesthetics. This juxtaposition of ‘cute’ graphics with themes of domination and expansion raises questions about the trivialization of colonial undertones. “Root,” a board game with a digital adaptation, uses anthropomorphic woodland creatures to allegorically represent various forms of governance and resistance. The game’s portrayal of territorial control and factional conflict offers rich ground for analyzing metaphorical representations of imperialism. “Lil’ Guardsman” contributes to these themes by simulating the authoritarian border control mechanics of “Papers, Please” within a fantasy cartoon world. Finally, “Stray” offers a post-apocalyptic perspective of an adventure game where players control a cute stray cat navigating a decaying city inhabited by robots, exploring themes of survival and societal collapse.

Utilizing an interdisciplinary approach, this paper employs theories from cultural studies and game studies to dissect game mechanics, narrative elements, and aesthetic choices. The aim is to uncover how these games reflect, distort, or confront historical narratives of colonization and empire-building.

This research contributes to the broader conversation about the role of video games as media of ideology, particularly in how they shape our perceptions of historical and contemporary socio-political issues. It underscores the need for critical engagement with video games as they increasingly become a part of our cultural and educational fabric, influencing views on history, politics, and identity.

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Pratama Wirya Atmaja is a lecturer in the Faculty of Computer Science of the University of Pembangunan Nasional Veteran Jawa Timur, Indonesia, with a background in games and software engineering. His research focuses on educational games, interactive digital narratives (IDN), and gamification. He is the leader of his faculty’s Game Research Group as well as a member of the “IDN in education” committee of ARDIN (Association for Research in Digital Interactive Narratives).

Co-Authors:
Rizka Hadiwiyanti
Andreas Nugroho Sihananto
Fetty Tri Anggraeny

How Apocalyptic Despair Turns into a Collective Hope in The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind

FROG 2024 – Talk

Morrowind, the third main title in The Elder Scrolls series, is widely regarded as one of the finest digital role-playing games, not least due to its unique and complex storyworld. The world is in an apocalyptic crisis, which manifests as a supernatural blight, a strange sleepwalking epidemic, and other, more horrific and fantastical threats. We argue that due to this crisis and its presentation, the game, despite following some high-fantasy tropes, can provide a valuable learning experience for the player regarding today’s global crises and how best to navigate them together with other citizens of Earth. We discuss this learning aspect through the lens of our world, storytelling, and interactivity model (https://youtu.be/B-4FLxVOL1I?si=mhjWoHML5VLnSwy1), which dissects an interactive narrative medium, such as a narrative role-playing game, into three interacting subsystems for the player’s cognitive, affective, and sensorimotor learning domains.

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Leonid Moyzhes is a PhD candidate in Charles University, Prague, originally from Moscow Russia. He graduated from the Center for Religious Studies in Russian State University for the Humanities. His thesis, as well as broader research interests, focus on representation of religion in role-playing games with a particular attention to the way that games may serve as a platform for identity experimentation, with a particular focus on games taking place in the settings of classical and urban fantasy and post-apocalypse.

Proliferation of cults in post-apocalyptic videogames: case study of Metro: Exodus.

FROG 2024 – Talk

My presentation analyzes the proliferation of the post-apocalyptic settings, using Metro: Exodus as a case study. This game has been chosen because among its six levels, three biggest ones are built around different post-apocalyptic cults, conveniently coded as ethically good, bad and neutral. The game serves as an example of the wider trend exemplified by numerous other games, both digital and analog. I use the idea of resonance to connect in-game reality with wider cultural context (Apperley 2010), as well as procedural rhetoric (Bogost 2007) and research on simulation (Frasca 2003; Simpson 2011; Tuomas 2022). The main research question is why game designers tend to include simulations of cults in their projects about post-apocalypse.

I understand cults as a form of religious organization described by Marc Galanter (1999), and approach specific in-game cults as a form of imagined religions that can be analyzed by organizing their elements as a specific architecture of different dimensions of religions proposed by Ninian Smart (1996). This optics helps to notice that social considerations lie at the heart of imagined cults, making them tools of (semi-)conscious social engineering, and a way to make political statements for game developers. Alternative approaches to cults would be to frame them as a way to encode a post-apocalyptic world as a re-enchanted one (Taylor 2007; Saler 2012) as opposed to the disenchanted pre-apocalyptic world familiar for the players.

However, the engineered character of cults in question frames them as an ultimately insincere attempt to use an enchanted character of the post-apocalyptic world to establish control of societies, with the player character himself serving both as a disenchanting and anti-cultic actor. This makes inclusion of cults an ideal way for game developers to signify the exotisation of post-apocalyptic world, while, ultimately, staying true to the notion that modern worldview is the best, or even the only possible one, despite the fact that on the surface level the very idea of apocalypse, especially a man-made one in the case of Metro:Exodus, seems to be a critique of modernity and a cry for an alternative.

Bibliography

Apperley, T. 2010. Gaming Rhythms: Play and Counterplay from the Situated to the Global. Amsterdam: Institute of Network Cultures.
Bogost I. 2007. Persuasive Games: The Expressive Power of Videogames. Cambridge: MIT Press.
Frasca, G. 2003. Simulation Versus Narrative: Introduction to Ludology. In The Video game Theory Reader 2: 221-236. London, UK: Routledge
Galanter, M. 1999. Cults: Faith, Healing and Coercion. Oxford University Press.
Taylor, C. 2007. A Secular Age. Cambridge, USA: Harvard University Press.
Tuomas, H. 2022. Simulation. Encyclopedia of ludic terms. Accessed 26.07. 2024 URL: https://eolt.org/articles/simulation
Saler, M. 2012. As If: Modern Enchantment and the Literary Prehistory of Virtual Reality. NY, USA: Oxford University Press
Smart N. 1996. Dimensions of the Sacred: An Anatomy of the World’s Beliefs. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Simpson, J. 2011. Identity crisis: Simulation and models. In Simulation & Gaming, 42(2), 195-211. LA: Sage.

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Maksim Podvalnyi is a lecturer at Institute of Business and Design (B&D) in Moscow. Before that he was a lecturer in cultural studies at Russian State University for the Humanities (RSUH). His yet-to-be-finished dissertation is dedicated to the construction of post-apocalyptic imagery in computer role-playing games; he is currently writing a popular science book on the same topic. Apart from game studies, his research interests include gender studies, semiotics, and theory of literature.

Post-apocalyptic societies of scarcity: the case of “Legacy: Life Among the Ruins”

FROG 2024 – Talk

Post-apocalyptic settings can serve many artistic purposes: from hosting grotesque westerns [5] to creating spaces of absolute negative freedom [9] or spaces of exploration or wandering [6]. But post-apocalyptic settings have another important property: they present the idea of deficit/scarcity in one of the best possible ways. The most obvious part is that they are abundant with imagery of scarcity: the ruins [12] gape with unwritten stories of their demise while megalopoli and machines cry of disanthropy [4]. On a narrative level, the scarcity of post-apocalypse is presented through absurdly brutal challenges the remnants of humanity face: while a primordial savage of real history might have lived in a society of plenty [1], feral humanity of the post-apocalypse lives in the state of permanent scarcity, for they are heirs to the needs created by the ancestors, but not to the means of satisfying these needs.

In games, however, this scarcity can be not only represented but experienced and thus utilized for modeling situations of scarcity [7, 8]. A case in point would be TTRPG “Legacy: life among the ruins” which has deficiencies (or “needs” in in-game terms) and surpluses of various resources (both material like weapons and abstract like morale) as core narrative-mechanical devices. This game is interesting in that it straightforwardly makes scarcity its main topic: unlike D&D, WHFB or many other “old school” RPGs,  the rules of “Legacy…” don’t make players count anything (money, loadout weight, etc.) – instead they tell whether we get a surplus or a deficit of something and prompts us how to act upon it. As a result, the gameplay largely revolves around role-playing the state of being in a need of something and trying to make up for the lack. This presentation aims to analyze how mechanics that simulate scarcity are used for construction of post-apocalyptic narratives from a semiotic perspective [10,11], using “Legacy…” as the main example.

Bibliography

1. Baudrillard, J. (1970) The Consumer Society
2. Dashiell, S. (2017) Rules Lawyering As Symbolic And Linguistic Capital.
3. Dashiell, S. (2018) Rules As Written: Game Algorithms As Game Capital
4. Garrard, G. (2012). Worlds without Us: Some Types of Disanthropy” // SubStance 41, no.1.
5. Gurr, B. (2015) Race, Gender, and Sexuality in Post-Apocalyptic TV and Film
6. Kagen, M. (2022). Wandering games
7. Kelly, S. and Nardi, B. (2014) Playing with sustainability: Using video games to simulate futures of scarcity
8. Makai, P.K. (2024) Do You Want to Set the World on Fire? Amplifying Player Agency to Demonstrate Alternatives to the Climate Crisis // Ecogames.
9. Podwalny, M. (2017) Budowa apokalipsy w jednym kraju // EKRANy
10. Подвальный, М. (2020) Консенсус и власть в настольных ролевых играх
[Podvalnyi, M. (2020) Consensus And Power In Tabletop Role-Playing Games]
11. Подвальный, М. (2020) Границы видеоигры как художественного произведения
[Podvalnyi, M. (2020) The Boundaries Of A Video Game As A Work Of Art]
12. Vella, D. (2010). Virtually In Ruins: The Imagery and Spaces of Ruin in Digital Games

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My academic journey has been one of defying conventions. After a PhD in Arabic Studies, I pivoted away from philology into what I call “explorative humanities”. In both teaching and research, I seek approaches that transcend academic habitus: meta-science, reader-centric writing, syndicating science, environmental humanities, game studies, data visualization, and AI – all constitute spaces of creative inquiry for me. Rather than confining my work to traditional publication venues, I share my explorations openly via my “No Discipline” blog, Zenodo, and the website for my postdoc project META-STRAND – platforms that foster collaborative exchange with fellow trailblazers.
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4483-4026

The Apocalypse Within: Portraying Psychological Resilience through Games like Hellblade

FROG 2024 – Talk

In the haunting opening of Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice, the Celtic warrior Senua paddles through a fog-laden river, her mind assailed by whispering voices. “Why is she doing this?… Turn back… You’re going to die,” they murmur, amplifying the miasma of dread shrouding her quest to retrieve her lover’s soul from Helheim. This chilling introduction establishes not just the game’s mythological foreboding, but also the more insidious threat – Senua’s imprisoning psychosis, an “inner apocalypse” to be overcome.

Where most apocalyptic video game narratives focus on external, existential threats like environmental disasters, wars or plagues, Hellblade turns inward, exploring the deeply personal “inner apocalypses” that can stem from mental health challenges. It unflinchingly depicts one woman’s battle against the torment of haunting delusions, her mind a psychological wasteland to traverse.

Yet Senua’s odyssey is ultimately one of resilience – harrowing, but undergirded by the indomitability of the human spirit. Her journey forces players to confront not just external dangers, but the supremely challenging terrain of the psyche itself. In this way, Hellblade reframes conceptions of the apocalypse, positioning mental illness not just as a prop for narrative exigency, but as an urgent human condition deserving of empathy, understanding, and respect.

This talk explores how Hellblade models mental health resilience and coping mechanisms within an apocalyptic framing. It posits games like this as invaluable educational tools, simulating psychological crises in immersive ways distinct from other media. Beyond awareness, they offer therapeutic potential by allowing players to experience, process, and overcome inner anguish alongside protagonists. Games that blend inner and outer apocalypses provide a vital perspective, namely that threats of the mind can prove as catastrophic as any meteor or risen AI overlord, but also that even our most dire psychological straits harbor rays of hope for rebirth and transcendence.

As apocalyptic anxieties swell, this inclusive conception of the apocalypse is indispensable. For it humbles us to the inescapable frailties shaping the human experience, while inspiring resilience in facing our collective existential threats, inner and outer alike.

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I completed my doctorate in Arabic studies on Libyan-Arabic concentration camp poetry and am currently a consultant for digital research services at the Hamburg State and University Library. In addition to the interface work between academic libraries and digital humanities, I am particularly interested in critical infrastructure research and the examination of academic codes, practices and rituals. I am also interested in how human abysses, apocalyptic ideas and dystopian scenarios are negotiated multimodally, for example in literature or games. A critical and inter-/non-disciplinary view and the subversion of established disciplinary boundaries are just as important to me as the challenge of academic-hierarchical working methods with a strong focus on collaboration independent of status.

How much apocalypse in the apocalypse? On the revelational Aspect of Apocalyptic Concepts in (post-)apocalyptic Games.

FROG 2024 – Talk

In popular fiction, “apocalypse” is typically associated with destruction, doomsday, death, or annihilation. This notion extends to post-apocalyptic settings, which often focus on survival or rebuilding life in a devastated world. Notable examples in gaming include the Fallout series, Frostpunk, The Surge, The Last of Us, and Days Gone.

However, viewing the apocalypse solely as a destructive event and the subsequent survival phase as “post-apocalyptic” oversimplifies the concept. Originally, the term “apocalypse” (from the Greek ἀποκάλυψις, meaning “revelation”) refers to an event that reveals the true nature of something. In religious contexts, it describes a deity revealing itself to humanity, often leading to a transition to a new, perfect world, the process usually accompanied by significant trials, severe battles and suffering. Thus, the apocalyptic concept encompasses both destruction and revelation. However, this processual nature of the apocalyptic event, as well as its revelatory nature, is often completely ignored in games that are labeled as (post-)apocalyptic.

In my talk, I will explore how (post-)apocalyptic games either embrace (e.g., A Plague Tale: Requiem) or overlook (e.g., Fallout 4) this broader understanding of the apocalypse, and where the revelatory nature of the apocalypse takes a more nuanced and differentiated form (e.g., The Last of Us, Part 2). In addition, I will examine how the notion of the “post-apocalyptic” aligns with, but often fails to fully acknowledge, the eschatological framework.

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Rebecchi Kevin, PhD (in Education) is a Research and Teaching fellow in Developmental Psychology in the Development, Individuals, Processes, Handicap, Education Research Unit at the Institute of Psychology, University Lumière Lyon 2 (France), and PhD Candidate in Communication at the Liège Game Lab, University of Liège (Belgium). His interdisciplinary research focuses on neurodiversity (history, conceptions and definitions, overlapping conditions, media representations, social perceptions and education).

Uncovering and End of the World: Neurodiversity in Apocalyptic Video Games

FROG 2024 – Talk

This talk explores how apocalyptic video games can uncover and highlight the unique skills and experiences of autistic individuals. By analyzing various games featuring autistic characters in apocalyptic contexts, we examine how these representations contribute to a better understanding and appreciation of neurodiversity.

The apocalypse, etymologically meaning “revelation,” is a recurring theme in video games, providing a framework to explore extreme scenarios and human capabilities in times of crisis. Traditionally seen as the end of the world or a major catastrophe, the apocalypse also means “uncovering” or “revealing.” This dual meaning shows how video games depict apocalyptic scenarios while revealing the skills and experiences of autistic individuals. Highlighting their unique contributions in apocalyptic worlds offers a new perspective on neurodiversity and challenges the notion that autism is solely a disability, demonstrating that in different contexts, autistic abilities become essential and valuable.

In Watch Dogs 2, Josh Sauchak is an autistic hacktivist fighting against a massive dystopian surveillance system. Overwatch features Symmetra, an autistic hero using a photon projector to protect her allies in a post-crisis future. Borderlands features Patricia Tannis, an autistic scientist surviving and searching for resources in a devastated universe. Mass Effect 2 introduces David Archer, an autistic savant with advanced cognitive abilities crucial for combating extinction threats. The Division 2 presents Birdie, an autistic technical genius helping rebuild society in post-pandemic Washington D.C. Apex Legends features Wattson, an autistic engineer creating defenses and supporting her team in a futuristic universe. Dragon Age: Inquisition presents Cole, a mysterious character with autistic traits navigating a world besieged by demons and conflicts. Clive Barker’s Jericho features Simone Cole, an autistic mathematician using chaos theory to manipulate time and space.

By uncovering the unique skills and experiences of autistic individuals, these apocalyptic video games offer new perspectives on human capabilities in crises and the resilience needed to overcome challenges. Highlighting neurodiversity, these games enrich our understanding of human contributions and resilience in global crises and question the notion of autism as a disability by showing how autistic abilities are indispensable in different contexts.

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