Stefano Gualeni
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gua-le-ni.com
Stefano Gualeni
@gua-le-ni.com

Professor at the University of Malta's @indigitalgames.bsky.social
Migrant ☆ https://gua-le-ni.com/
WHAT WE OWE THE DEAD ⇒ https://www.setmargins.press/books/what-we-owe-the-dead/

Stefano Gualeni is an Italian philosopher, professor, and game designer who has created interactive websites and video games such as Tony Tough and the Night of Roasted Moths, Gua-Le-Ni; or, The Horrendous Parade, and Something Something Soup Something. .. more

Computer science 26%
Sociology 21%
Pinned
'What We Owe the Dead' is the title of my new #scifi novel.

In the aftermath of a climate catastrophe, the book follows strange detective case and deals with themes such as the notion of personhood and the social use of #games.

> www.setmargins.press/books/what-w... <

(photos by Annette Behrens)

Reposted by Stefano Gualeni

Never be afraid to avoid new things.

Saturday hike near Gnejna Bay #Malta
(pics by @danielvella.bsky.social)

Congrats, dear Tijana! 🎉

Grazie hafna! Will check It out :)

Reposted by Stefano Gualeni

Also this by Rafman: "What I still don’t understand is this whole idea of ‘ethical AI’. To me, even framing it that way is already problematic. AI itself isn’t unethical – it’s a tool." That's naive at best (I'm trying to be very understanding here).

Reposted by Stefano Gualeni

🏹The Hunger Games builds its narrative around a fictional game. What can the (fictional) games we play reveal about the values held by society?

🎙️ @gua-le-ni.com chats with @matthewleggatt.bsky.social & @dystopiajunkie.bsky.social on @utopiaanddystopia.bsky.social

🔗 www.um.edu.mt/newspoint/li...
Utopia, Play, and Fictional Games: A conversation with Prof. Stefano Gualeni
How do fictional games work as world-building tools and what can the games we play reveal?
www.um.edu.mt

Let me know how it goes :) Curious!

Not MiSing

Check this out :)

Reposted by Stefano Gualeni

CFP for a special issue of Eludamos. What are antifascist games? Proposal deadline is December 19.
eludamos.org/index.php/el...
Special Issue: WHAT ARE ANTIFASCIST GAMES? | Eludamos: Journal for Computer Game Culture
eludamos.org

Or the child has spent too much time in Silksong :)

The cat in question:

Did you see this cat? #Mising #Malta

Reposted by Stefano Gualeni

Reposted by Stefano Gualeni

We’re looking for an experienced 3D game animator to bring our human characters to life!
Can you handle IK setups, cyclical animation loops and export/import between Blender and Unity? Are you familiar with root motion and setting up blend trees?
Send us your cv to
[email protected]
Friends! On November 19th at 16:00, in Auditorium 3 at the ITU, we are hosting a talk by Florence Smith Nicholls. The talk is titled How to be a video game archaeologist. You can read about it here: digitalplay.itu.dk/event/floren...
How To Be A Video Game Archaeologist - A talk by Florence Smith Nicholls | Center for Digital Play
How To Be A Video Game Archaeologist - A talk by Florence Smith Nicholls
digitalplay.itu.dk

Reposted by Stefano Gualeni

For the past decade, I've been slowly cooking a small and humble book.

Part (alternative) history, part analysis, and part social critique, this is a look at what games also are and have always been.

ZEN AND SLOW GAMES
Out 20/1/2026 by MIT Press

mitpress.mit.edu/978026255356...

Congrats!

Reposted by Stefano Gualeni

When Elden Ring had been announced but not yet released, its subreddit started collectively pretending the game was already out.

I spent far too many hours reading strategies to defeat the (completely made-up) Glaive Master Hodir. For research.
This is the result: doi.org/10.1093/aest...
Fictional Game Spectatorship: On Pretend-Play and Collective Imagination in Gaming Communities
Abstract. Fictional games are games that do not actually exist, but that are presented within works of fiction. They are thus not appreciated through play,
doi.org
I asked Microsoft PR about this—specially the DHS using Halo IP to recruit for ICE—and the company declined to comment.

Hey, congrats 🎉

Reposted by Stefano Gualeni

I wrote a short summary of the below recently published paper for the New Work in Philosophy blog.

open.substack.com/pub/newworki...

Thanks @marcusarvan.bsky.social for hosting this!

Reposted by Stefano Gualeni

When we talk about videogames and movies I think we often miss how videogames are represented as history/memory tools in Chris Marker's Level Five. I wrote about it for The Bunker Magazine through @gua-le-ni.com and Fassone's book "Fictional Games. A Philosophy of Worldbuilding and Imaginary Play".

Sunday hike in Marsascala #Malta

Ok, it might not be fresh new stuff, but at least it will be cheap, right?
a man in a suit is standing in a field of grass
ALT: a man in a suit is standing in a field of grass
media.tenor.com

In case you missed it, I talked about my latest novel - a speculative sci-fi detective story - at the 'Utopian and Dystopian Fictions Podcast.' Check it out! :)
>> youtu.be/eFW_XltfW-k?... <<

@indigitalgames.bsky.social @utopiaanddystopia.bsky.social @matthewleggatt.bsky.social

This, by the way, is also referred to as
- the dual position of the player and/or
- virtual subjectivity as a compound subjectivity (as discussed with @danielvella.bsky.social in our 2020 book).
Have fun!

Oh, no worries :) Just sharing stuff. Also, you migth look into into similar kinds of 'twofoldness' like that between taking a phenom. perspective that is internal to a virtual world (e.g. that of the character of a game) vs. an external one (e.g. that of the player). If you need stuff, ask :D

Hi and congrats!
I talk about something similar (in relation to deliberately producing aesthetical effects that cause the 'awareness of the representational vehicle') here - albeit not specifically in relation to VR. Maybe helpful for future developments?
gua-le-ni.com/articles/Gli...
gua-le-ni.com