Jaakko Stenros
@jaakkostenros.bsky.social
Scholar of games and play, author or editor of eleven books, into comic books, role-playing games, queer stuff, literature, and art.
Website: https://jaakkostenros.wordpress.com/
Email: jaakko.stenros (at) tuni.fi
Website: https://jaakkostenros.wordpress.com/
Email: jaakko.stenros (at) tuni.fi
Pinned
I have 11 books about games out as author or editor. Ten of them are available as free pdfs. Check out the full list here: jaakkostenros.wordpress.com/books/
Reposted by Jaakko Stenros
trying to switch off the AI bloatware that has been pinned to the top of every single menu in every single app
April 26, 2025 at 9:30 PM
trying to switch off the AI bloatware that has been pinned to the top of every single menu in every single app
Leslie Scott, the creator of Jenga, has been working on collection of texts on play for years. She has launched a "loose-leaf collection of writings that view play from every angle & and all life through the lens of play". Sign up for the free substack here: boundlessplay.substack.com/about
About - Boundless Play
A loose-leaf collection of writings that view play from every angle & all life through the lens of play - Curated by Leslie Scott. Click to read Boundless Play, a Substack publication. Launched 2 mont...
boundlessplay.substack.com
November 26, 2025 at 7:41 AM
Leslie Scott, the creator of Jenga, has been working on collection of texts on play for years. She has launched a "loose-leaf collection of writings that view play from every angle & and all life through the lens of play". Sign up for the free substack here: boundlessplay.substack.com/about
Reposted by Jaakko Stenros
BREAKING: This is huge news, the EU's equivalent of the 🇺🇸Supreme Court's 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges ruling.
🇪🇺Court of Justice just ruled all 🇪🇺countries must recognise same-sex marriages granted in other member states.
This effectively legalises gay marriage across 🇪🇺
🇪🇺Court of Justice just ruled all 🇪🇺countries must recognise same-sex marriages granted in other member states.
This effectively legalises gay marriage across 🇪🇺
www.reuters.com
November 25, 2025 at 10:10 AM
BREAKING: This is huge news, the EU's equivalent of the 🇺🇸Supreme Court's 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges ruling.
🇪🇺Court of Justice just ruled all 🇪🇺countries must recognise same-sex marriages granted in other member states.
This effectively legalises gay marriage across 🇪🇺
🇪🇺Court of Justice just ruled all 🇪🇺countries must recognise same-sex marriages granted in other member states.
This effectively legalises gay marriage across 🇪🇺
"We cannot change the rules of the game, we cannot ascertain whether the game is fair. We can only study the player at his game; not, however, with the detached attitude of a bystander, for we are watching our own minds at play." -Tobias Dantzig, 1930
November 25, 2025 at 11:10 AM
"We cannot change the rules of the game, we cannot ascertain whether the game is fair. We can only study the player at his game; not, however, with the detached attitude of a bystander, for we are watching our own minds at play." -Tobias Dantzig, 1930
Swiss tank simulator from 1970s that includes a miniature model environment. www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcQi...
This 1970s tank simulator drives through a tiny world
YouTube video by Tom Scott
www.youtube.com
November 25, 2025 at 9:24 AM
Swiss tank simulator from 1970s that includes a miniature model environment. www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcQi...
Interesting CFP for a special issue on antifascist games!
CFP for a special issue of Eludamos. What are antifascist games? Proposal deadline is December 19.
eludamos.org/index.php/el...
eludamos.org/index.php/el...
Special Issue: WHAT ARE ANTIFASCIST GAMES?
| Eludamos: Journal for Computer Game Culture
eludamos.org
November 24, 2025 at 1:27 PM
Interesting CFP for a special issue on antifascist games!
This looks great!
I'm delighted to announce that my new book, Artgames after Gamergate, is out now with Palgrave: link.springer.com/book/10.1007...
Artgames after GamerGate
This book explores how artgame designers respond to Gamergate, challenging perceptions of gaming and its place in culture and politics
link.springer.com
November 24, 2025 at 12:53 PM
This looks great!
New article on larp, activism and deliberation in this collection, out in December!
Education and Analog Role-Playing Games: Theory and Pedagogy, Volume 1
Education and Analog Role-Playing Games: Theory and Pedagogy brings together scholars and educators who explore the educational potential of analog role-playing games (tabletop role-playing games and ...
www.routledge.com
November 24, 2025 at 8:39 AM
New article on larp, activism and deliberation in this collection, out in December!
Puheet ja teot ristiriidassa, kuten tällä hallituksella on tapana.
Leikkaukset | Hallitus säästää ammattikorkeakouluilta ja yliopistoilta
Hallitus päätti torstaina täydentävästä talousarviosta ensi vuodelle. Elokuva-alan säästöt peruttiin, mutta sen sijaan säästökohteeksi joutuvat esimerkiksi yliopistot ja ammattikorkeakoulut. Moni tieh...
www.hs.fi
November 20, 2025 at 1:01 PM
Puheet ja teot ristiriidassa, kuten tällä hallituksella on tapana.
Reposted by Jaakko Stenros
Visuaalisen viestinnän asiantuntijana pakko antaa täydet pisteet tälle Orpon päivitykselle.
November 20, 2025 at 6:20 AM
Visuaalisen viestinnän asiantuntijana pakko antaa täydet pisteet tälle Orpon päivitykselle.
Tampereen yliopiston konsistorin vaali on parhaillaan käynnissä. Olen ehdolla Yliopistodemokratia-vaalilistalla, numerolla 35.
November 19, 2025 at 10:48 AM
Tampereen yliopiston konsistorin vaali on parhaillaan käynnissä. Olen ehdolla Yliopistodemokratia-vaalilistalla, numerolla 35.
Reposted by Jaakko Stenros
Well fuck. You weren’t supposed to build the Stand Alone Complex.
Injecting the social world with infinite undetectable impostors that increases the cost of honest signals by orders of magnitude is quickly becoming my top 2 „negative externality“ of LLMs. Class action, anyone?
Injecting the social world with infinite undetectable impostors that increases the cost of honest signals by orders of magnitude is quickly becoming my top 2 „negative externality“ of LLMs. Class action, anyone?
new paper by Sean Westwood:
With current technology, it is impossible to tell whether survey respondents are real or bots. Among other things, makes it easy for bad actors to manipulate outcomes. No good news here for the future of online-based survey research
With current technology, it is impossible to tell whether survey respondents are real or bots. Among other things, makes it easy for bad actors to manipulate outcomes. No good news here for the future of online-based survey research
November 19, 2025 at 8:33 AM
Well fuck. You weren’t supposed to build the Stand Alone Complex.
Injecting the social world with infinite undetectable impostors that increases the cost of honest signals by orders of magnitude is quickly becoming my top 2 „negative externality“ of LLMs. Class action, anyone?
Injecting the social world with infinite undetectable impostors that increases the cost of honest signals by orders of magnitude is quickly becoming my top 2 „negative externality“ of LLMs. Class action, anyone?
Reposted by Jaakko Stenros
”Mistä löydän larppeja post-FB?”
”Missä peleissä on juuri nyt ilmo auki?”
”Kuinka laaja ilmiö on larppaaminen Suomessa?”
”Miten oululaiset jaksaa vuodesta toiseen tota tahtia?”
larpit.fi – Suomalaisen larppaamisen joukkoistettu arkisto
taustalla allekirjoittanut ja @tracon.bsky.social
#suomilarp
”Missä peleissä on juuri nyt ilmo auki?”
”Kuinka laaja ilmiö on larppaaminen Suomessa?”
”Miten oululaiset jaksaa vuodesta toiseen tota tahtia?”
larpit.fi – Suomalaisen larppaamisen joukkoistettu arkisto
taustalla allekirjoittanut ja @tracon.bsky.social
#suomilarp
Larpit.fi – Crowd-sourced archive of Finnish larp
larpit.fi
November 19, 2025 at 7:06 AM
”Mistä löydän larppeja post-FB?”
”Missä peleissä on juuri nyt ilmo auki?”
”Kuinka laaja ilmiö on larppaaminen Suomessa?”
”Miten oululaiset jaksaa vuodesta toiseen tota tahtia?”
larpit.fi – Suomalaisen larppaamisen joukkoistettu arkisto
taustalla allekirjoittanut ja @tracon.bsky.social
#suomilarp
”Missä peleissä on juuri nyt ilmo auki?”
”Kuinka laaja ilmiö on larppaaminen Suomessa?”
”Miten oululaiset jaksaa vuodesta toiseen tota tahtia?”
larpit.fi – Suomalaisen larppaamisen joukkoistettu arkisto
taustalla allekirjoittanut ja @tracon.bsky.social
#suomilarp
Reposted by Jaakko Stenros
fwiw I feel like Ellen Samuels' history of Olympic sex testing regimes in Fantasies of Identification offers one of the starkest demonstrations you could ever hope for of the fundamental incoherence of binary sex/gender systems (& their racist & ableist fx). Got a .pdf if the IOC wants it
IOC edges closer to ban on transgender women in female Olympic events
IOC edges closer to ban on transgender women in female Olympic events
*
Sources expect ban within next six to 12 months
*
IOC president wants to protect the female category
The International Olympic Committee is edging closer towards implementing a ban on transgender women competing in the female category in time for the Los Angeles Olympics.
Multiple sources expect such a ban to come into effect over the next six to 12 months with the new IOC president, Kirsty Coventry, making clear she wants to drive through her campaign pledge to protect the female category. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
November 18, 2025 at 12:55 PM
fwiw I feel like Ellen Samuels' history of Olympic sex testing regimes in Fantasies of Identification offers one of the starkest demonstrations you could ever hope for of the fundamental incoherence of binary sex/gender systems (& their racist & ableist fx). Got a .pdf if the IOC wants it
Reposted by Jaakko Stenros
"I don't know" is one of the most powerful intellectual positions imaginable.
Where you plant your "I don't know" flag signals your research question, methodology, and even what *counts* as evidence.
Current commercial manifestations of GenAI make it so you cannot even see the spot on the ground.
Where you plant your "I don't know" flag signals your research question, methodology, and even what *counts* as evidence.
Current commercial manifestations of GenAI make it so you cannot even see the spot on the ground.
My biggest GenAI-related intellectual fear is about the future of “I don’t know”
Giving medical advice, sometimes ChatGPT is right, and sometimes it is quite wrong, but it is hard to tell the difference:
"Rather, Wachter identified something more frightening: ChatGPT’s dangerous answers don’t sound risky to a non-doctor. The chatbot always sounds confident and authoritative."
"Rather, Wachter identified something more frightening: ChatGPT’s dangerous answers don’t sound risky to a non-doctor. The chatbot always sounds confident and authoritative."
November 18, 2025 at 12:15 PM
"I don't know" is one of the most powerful intellectual positions imaginable.
Where you plant your "I don't know" flag signals your research question, methodology, and even what *counts* as evidence.
Current commercial manifestations of GenAI make it so you cannot even see the spot on the ground.
Where you plant your "I don't know" flag signals your research question, methodology, and even what *counts* as evidence.
Current commercial manifestations of GenAI make it so you cannot even see the spot on the ground.
Tampere Game Research Lab Spring Seminar is on the horizon again. This will be out 22nd annual game studies work in progress seminar. The theme is different each year, this time it is Events and Communities.
Check out the CFP.
Check out the CFP.
2026 | Call for Papers
Events are at the heart of game and play cultures. They are organized for many reasons and purposes, bringing people together to play, socialize, compete, learn and teach, network, sell, perform, c…
springseminar.org
November 18, 2025 at 10:16 AM
Tampere Game Research Lab Spring Seminar is on the horizon again. This will be out 22nd annual game studies work in progress seminar. The theme is different each year, this time it is Events and Communities.
Check out the CFP.
Check out the CFP.
Reposted by Jaakko Stenros
I have a burning desire to get the physical editions of these books but alas... No shipping to Europe. Folks in Team America will have to get them, appreciate them, and love them for me.
The Designers & Dragons: Origins backerkit has just three days to go!
www.backerkit.com/c/projects/e...
www.backerkit.com/c/projects/e...
Designers & Dragons: Origins
From the birth of roleplaying to the discovery of the Forgotten Realms, from the rise of Basic D&D to the fall of Mystara, historian Shannon Appelcline brings you the story of OD&D, Basic D&D, and AD&...
www.backerkit.com
November 17, 2025 at 7:50 PM
I have a burning desire to get the physical editions of these books but alas... No shipping to Europe. Folks in Team America will have to get them, appreciate them, and love them for me.
Only one film in the Queer Film Club yesterday: the original four hour version of Ludwig (1973) by Luchino Visconti. It tells the story of the Bavarian "Mad King" Ludwig II (1845-1886), who was more interested in supporting the arts, building castles, and chasing men, than in wars or ruling.
November 17, 2025 at 7:33 AM
Only one film in the Queer Film Club yesterday: the original four hour version of Ludwig (1973) by Luchino Visconti. It tells the story of the Bavarian "Mad King" Ludwig II (1845-1886), who was more interested in supporting the arts, building castles, and chasing men, than in wars or ruling.
Reposted by Jaakko Stenros
Like it or not this technology is here to stay and if you don’t use it you’ll fall behind in your industry
November 17, 2025 at 6:43 AM
Like it or not this technology is here to stay and if you don’t use it you’ll fall behind in your industry
Last night I finished watching Dune Prophesy; I enjoyed It much more than I expected. But, damn, how is the snow and the ice again so bad. Snow looks and acts like dandruff, winter is a white room where etiquette requires wearing furs, but never on one's hands or head.
November 15, 2025 at 7:03 AM
Last night I finished watching Dune Prophesy; I enjoyed It much more than I expected. But, damn, how is the snow and the ice again so bad. Snow looks and acts like dandruff, winter is a white room where etiquette requires wearing furs, but never on one's hands or head.
Today I learned that the Origins 3 convention in 1978 "in an effort to make attendees feel truly welcome within the city they included a brief guide on where to find illegal drugs and both straight and gay sex near the University of Michigan campus that hosted the convention."
November 14, 2025 at 3:01 PM
Today I learned that the Origins 3 convention in 1978 "in an effort to make attendees feel truly welcome within the city they included a brief guide on where to find illegal drugs and both straight and gay sex near the University of Michigan campus that hosted the convention."
Reposted by Jaakko Stenros
Mikä ihme tässä yhteisten asioiden hoitamisessa voi mennä ohi julkisuusperiaatteen?
Hallitus menee korkeimpaan hallinto-oikeuteen asti estääkseen kansalaisia saamasta tietoja ilmastopolitiikan valmistelusta.
Tämä on kaukana julkisuuslain kirjaimesta - hengestä nyt puhumattakaan.
Tämä on kaukana julkisuuslain kirjaimesta - hengestä nyt puhumattakaan.
Ministeriö salaa tietoja hallituksen ilmastotoimista ja valittaa yhä julkisuuspäätöksestä
Uutiset nopeasti ja luotettavasti.
yle.fi
November 14, 2025 at 7:38 AM
Mikä ihme tässä yhteisten asioiden hoitamisessa voi mennä ohi julkisuusperiaatteen?
Reposted by Jaakko Stenros
The room is
almost all
elephant.
Almost none
of it isn’t.
Pretty much
solid elephant.
So there’s no
room to talk
about it.
-Kay Ryan, “The Elephant in the Room”
#everynightapoem
almost all
elephant.
Almost none
of it isn’t.
Pretty much
solid elephant.
So there’s no
room to talk
about it.
-Kay Ryan, “The Elephant in the Room”
#everynightapoem
November 13, 2025 at 12:13 AM
The room is
almost all
elephant.
Almost none
of it isn’t.
Pretty much
solid elephant.
So there’s no
room to talk
about it.
-Kay Ryan, “The Elephant in the Room”
#everynightapoem
almost all
elephant.
Almost none
of it isn’t.
Pretty much
solid elephant.
So there’s no
room to talk
about it.
-Kay Ryan, “The Elephant in the Room”
#everynightapoem
Honk! Honk! I remember when an earlier version of this article was presented at our spring seminar in Tampere (in conjunction with another paper on trucks and games, by Solip Park). So happy to see the final version come out!
🚚🚚🚚New article alert! Part of a special issue on games + container technologies, it’s about truckers who play Truck Simulator in their trucks, but also simulation, battlestations, and the logistics of work and play. It's open access, so please take a look 🚚🚚🚚 www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Truck simulator, trucker-simulators, and the containment of neoliberal capitalism
This paper discusses truckers who play games (including Truck Simulator) while on the road. Inspired by the concept of “container technologies” and more recent work which distinguishes between cont...
www.tandfonline.com
November 13, 2025 at 6:20 PM
Honk! Honk! I remember when an earlier version of this article was presented at our spring seminar in Tampere (in conjunction with another paper on trucks and games, by Solip Park). So happy to see the final version come out!
Tampereen yliopiston konsistorin vaali alkaa maanantaina. Olen mukana Yliopistodemokratia-vaalilistalla. Tässä vähän ajatuksiani aiheesta:
Jaakko Stenros konsistoriin
Tampereen yliopistojen fuusiossa yliopistoyhteisön valtaa kavennettiin huimasti, erityisesti vanhaan Tampereen yliopistoon verrattuna. Fuusio oli tieteen autonomian, läpinäkyvyyden ja demokratian n…
yliopistodemokratia.wordpress.com
November 13, 2025 at 2:39 PM
Tampereen yliopiston konsistorin vaali alkaa maanantaina. Olen mukana Yliopistodemokratia-vaalilistalla. Tässä vähän ajatuksiani aiheesta: