Games Transformed is back!

A one day festival for discussing, making and playing radical games.

The huge success of last year’s festival proved there's still loads to explore at the intersection of games and progressive politics - from how we cooperate (or fight!), to how we plan and produce, to what kind of future we want to play in. After a year of mass redundancies in the games industry, record profits from studio giants, and a surge of union organising, Games Transformed 2024 is going to be a space for game workers and fans from around the country to come together to imagine something better!

This year we'll be joined by some incredible guests, including Jonathan McIntosh, creator of the Pop Culture Detective YouTube channel with over 1 million subscribers, Marijam Did, gaming industry journalist who is releasing her new book Everything to Play For: How Videogames Are Changing the World this September, members of ACFM who will be hosting a live role playing experience, representatives from the IWGB and Limit Break will talk about the mass redundancies and studio closures in the gaming industry, and IWGB will run a trade union Organising 101 workshop.

No War But Class War!

From adverts that emulate first-person shooters, to Fortnite maps and eSport teams, Discord servers and Twitch channels - the British Army is gamifying its recruitment practices and targeting teenagers in the UK's gaming community. It’s time to fight back.

This year the theme of the festival is No War But Class War! We’re focusing on anti-war and anti-imperialist ideas in games and we're partnering with anti-war organisations to encourage people to make counter-recruitment games for our three-week game jam. Last year the winners of the jam worked with us to create a custom arcade cabinet that was showcased at The World Transformed festival. This year a jury will select a videogame to be turned into an arcade cabinet and a boardgame to be turned into a quality print edition. Both will be revealed in a direct action targeting the British Army's recruitment drive.

FULL PROGRAMME:

Talks:

• Pop Culture Detective: A Brief History of Colonialism in Boardgames - with Jonathan McIntosh, creator of the Pop Culture Detective YouTube channel with over 1 million subscribers

• Everything to Play For: How Videogames Are Changing the World - Marijam Did in conversation with Matteo Menapace about her upcoming book published by Verso

• Demilitarising Games - with Keir Milburn, Game Assist, more speakers TBC

• WTF is Going on in the Games Industry?? - with Anisa Sunasi from Limit Break and speakers from the Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB), more speakers TBC

Workshops:

• Organising 101 - with IWGB

• Gaming the System: A Game Design Mini Masterclass - a games hacking workshop with Daybreak designer Matteo Menapace

• Wargaming Nature: From Photosynthesis to Suppressive Fire - with Manchester Game Centre

• Disaster Risk Planning: The Game - hosted by creator Louis Delmege

Video Games:

• Thatcher’s Techbase: Arcade Edition - play the arcade cabinet that got Jeremy Corbyn cancelled by everyone from The Times to PC Gamer

• Umurangi Generation VR

• Tonight We Riot

• Focus, But Where? - with developer talk and Q&A

Tabletop Games:

• War on Terror: The Boardgame - hosted by designer Andrew Sheerin

• Daybreak - with co-designer Matteo Menapace

• Meal Deal - with developer playthrough

• Shug - with developer playthrough

• Seize the Power - with co-designer Tiz Creel
  

• 37° and Beyond Heathland - prototype games created by students at Winchester School of Art

RPGs:

• Comrades - run by Jeremy Gilbert

• Liminal - run by developer Paul Mitchener

• Why We Fight - run by developers Stop Drop and Roll

• Move Quietly and Tend Things - run by Keir Milburn

Access statement

Games Transformed tries hard to ensure our events are accessible to everyone. Pelican House is an accessible venue and we have carried out an access check for the festival. The access statement is available here. Free tickets are available to the unwaged and asylum seekers by emailing gamestransformed@gmail.com

Are you a member of the TWT Supporters Network?
If so, you can get a free ticket to this event. Just email barney@theworldtransformed.org with 'Games Transformed Supporter' in the subject header, and he'll sort out your free ticket. 

Want to join the Supporters Network?
Good idea. It's regular people all over the country (and the world!) who donate a small amount to TWT each month to help us cover our core costs. This allows us to support events like Games Transformed and our Transformed Groups, and of course, put on our even bigger multi-day festivals! Make a recurring donation to join the Supporters Network here.