Luiza Gossian

Queen Mary University of London

Luiza is a multidisciplinary researcher, game designer and developer interested in translating real world concepts into engaging game mechanics. She is passionate about creating games that can encourage an understanding of ourselves and the socially connected world we live in. 

Luiza is also an experienced painter, graphic designer and photographer and uses her visual skills and psychology background to prototype experimental game designs, design game documentation and craft atmospheric experiences.

A description of Luiza's research:

How can a subject as serious as genocide be successfully and respectfully translated into

a casual game?

Difficult subjects are often implemented with polar opposite approaches in games: either they are made to be highly emotional, socially conscious games that portray the gravity of a situation, yet are only played by those already informed and aware; or they are pure entertainment games that turn these subjects into wild amusement parks that appeal to broader gamer audiences yet do nothing to appropriately address the themes they glorify.

Within this polarity there exists the potential to create games that tackle more serious subjects yet do so in a way that is more lighthearted and entertaining, and therefore more

likely to reach the audiences who stand to gain the most.

In her research, Luiza is exploring how to design games about genocide that break away from traditional approaches and embrace the ludic potential of games. Drawing on theories of intergroup and cultural psychology, as well as her own experiences, she is exploring how these difficult themes can be explored in engaging, effective and informative ways.

Currently, she is developing a hypercasual game that abstracts the ten stages of genocide to be used as an educational primer, a Tetris-esq game that uses social media and government sources to present the realities of refugees fleeing their homes, and a cosy mystery-adventure game which enables players to uncover historical crimes in a far away land.