Empowering Game Design Education (EDGE) with Transformative Role-playing Games

EDGE creates state of the art education in transformative game design with an emphasis on analog role-playing games. EDGE provides educational opportunities for practitioners, students, researcher...

EDGE creates state of the art education in transformative game design with an emphasis on analog role-playing games. EDGE provides educational opportunities for practitioners, students, researchers, and instructors. Ultimately, EDGE seeks to empower individuals and communities by optimizing role-playing as a vehicle for personal and social change. Central to EDGE's goals are innovation, digitization, inclusion, and accessibility, as well as the integration of advanced technology in RPG praxis.

Activities involve the development of curricular materials in transformative game design through collaboration between universities in Sweden and Finland, as well as non-profit organizations in Greece, Italy, and Norway. These activities range from course and textbook development to more experimental practices, such as the integration of advanced technology into analog role-playing game practice and the implementation of an educational RPG to teach the curriculum through embodied immersive play.

The results of the project will include modules, a course, a textbook, an implementation guide, a Tech Toolkit, and an educational role-playing game set in a wizard school that teaches principles of transformative game design. The intended audience for these materials are students, instructors, researchers, and practitioners. We are especially interested in reaching people in helping professions who use role-playing games with specific populations, e.g. teachers, therapists, and youth workers.