A call for papers for the Meaningful Play conference has been published by the conference organizers at Michigan State University. The conference takes place October 9-11; submissions, due July 1, will be peer-reviewed and selected papers will also appear in an issue of the International Journal of Gaming and Computer-Mediated Simulation.

The CFP appears after the jump.

Meaningful Play 2008, which takes place October 9-11, 2008, is an interdisciplinary academic conference that explores the potential of games to entertain, inform, educate, and persuade in meaningful ways. The conference includes thought-provoking keynotes from leaders in academia and industry, peer-reviewed paper presentations, panel sessions (including academic and industry discussions), innovative workshops, roundtable discussions, and exhibitions of games.

Submissions are sought from both researchers and practitioners in academia and industry. Graduate and advanced undergraduate students are also encouraged to submit either jointly with an academic/member of industry or alone.

While any topic related to games for entertainment and learning is appropriate to submit to Meaningful Play 2008, topics of particular interest include:

1) Exploring meaningful applications of games

* Games to change attitudes, beliefs, or behaviors (including social impact games and personal health games)
* Games to stimulate creativity or innovation
* Games to build social skills
* Games to advertise (advergames) and persuade
* Games to exercise specific cognitive functions
* Games to explore personal beliefs and help make decisions
* Games to build knowledge and skills (games for learning)
* Serious games for history and cultural heritage learning

2) Issues in designing meaningful play

* Game design for specific audience segments
* Player types and play styles
* Story and storytelling in games
* Competitve and cooperative play (single player, multiplayer and massively multiplayer)
* Balancing entertainment and serious goals
* Repurposing entertainment games for serious purposes
* Unintended and unexpected effects of games
* Using psychology and neuroscience to design and understand games
* Evaluation and assessment of game impacts
* Barriers to the adoption of serious game

Submission deadline is July 1, 2008.

Complete details on Meaningful Play 2008 are available at:
http://meaningfulplay.msu.edu