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Senior Lecturer at Adelaide University

Posted on by Susie

I’m delighted to share that I’ve been promoted to Senior Lecturer: Games Design and Digital Media at Adelaide University, effective 1st January! What a wonderful way to say goodbye to UniSA and hello to Adelaide University as the merger process completes. It feels like the perfect transition into a new chapter.

This promotion is a recognition of a lot of hard work, care, and collaboration over the years, and I want to sincerely thank everyone who has supported me along the way. My colleagues, mentors, collaborators, and students at UniSA have shaped me as an educator, researcher, and designer, and I’m deeply grateful for the encouragement, trust, and opportunities I’ve had.

I’m looking forward to continuing to champion meaningful, inclusive, and transformative work in games and digital media at Adelaide University. Here’s to a year shaped by collaboration and care, collective social change, brave ideas, and work that makes a real difference for our communities. 💛🎮✨

(Re)Defining Creativity: Call for Chapters/ Abstracts

Posted on by Susie

Neurodivergent creativity is powerful, diverse, and we think not celebrated enough! We’re so excited be putting together a book exploring the creative and diverse ways that neurodivergent people think, play, learn, and create, and we want your chapter!

Writing, art, games, visual essays – whatever expresses your ideas counts. This collection embraces creativity in all its forms! 🌈✍️🎮🖌️

🎥 We’ve also made a 3 minute YouTube video Call for Chapters that you can watch here:

📄 Prefer to read a traditional written Call for Chapters?

https://www.authorea.com/…/1336853-call-for-papers…

📬 Submit your abstract by December 31, 2025 using the Google Form: https://docs.google.com/…/1FAIpQLSdxxdTqBhW…/viewform…

Edited by Susannah Emery, KJ Hepworth, & Michele Jarldorn

Subversive tech and paper prototyping: using radical co-design with formerly incarcerated women to create ‘LindaBot’

Posted on by Susie

I’m so proud to share this – it is honestly one of my favourite pieces of writing. Co-authored with the brilliant Michele Jarldorn, Sophia Booij and Katerina Bryant, this article in CoDesign (the International Journal of CoCreation in Design and the Arts) tells the story of LindaBot, a chatbot co-designed with members of Seeds of Affinity, a peer-support group for formerly incarcerated women here in South Australia.

Because we couldn’t use tech inside the prison, we used paper prototyping – edge-notched cards and interactive booklets – to design with the women, not for them. It’s about building tech that’s ethical, accessible and grounded in lived experience. I’m so grateful to be a part of this project!

You can read the article for free (open access) here: https://doi.org/10.1080/15710882.2025.2530030

Article: The video games industry is having its #MeToo moment. But there’s a long way to go

Posted on by Susie

Recently I chatted with Nell Geraets for this Sydney Morning Herald piece on three executives from Ubisoft being found guilty of enabling a culture of harassment in the workplace.

I’m glad these conversations are reaching mainstream media, and as I said in the article: “there’s still a lot of work to do.” We need real structural change to make the industry safer and more inclusive – for everyone pushed to the margins. It’s a conversation I’m committed to continuing.

You can read the full article here: https://www.smh.com.au/culture/art-and-design/the-video-games-industry-is-having-its-metoo-moment-but-there-s-a-long-way-to-go-20250703-p5mca2.html

ABC: Bolt Action World Championships

Posted on by Susie

Recently I was lucky enough to chat to Rosemary Murphy from the ABC about playing miniature games – specifically Bolt Action, in an article about the Australian Bolt Action teams travelling to the UK to compete in the World Team Championships this year! Australia has two teams competing this weekend – good luck!

You can read the article in full here: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-04-26/miniature-tabletop-game-bolt-action-world-championship-event/105204998

The Bunyip: Game On

Posted on by Susie

This month I was lucky enough to be featured in The Bunyip (the Gawler area’s local newspaper)’s Humans of Gawler section by the amazing Daniel Down, about growing up in the Gawler area and creating games!

We even found the time to chat about Life (Re)Sounding and some of the ways in which it communicates some of the challenges growing up neurodivergent in a world made for neurotypical people. Thanks for the chat!

Photo Credit goes to Daniel Down: https://www.instagram.com/djd79/?hl=en

DiGRAAustralia 2025 National Conference

Posted on by Susie

We are proud to announce that the 2025 DiGRAA National Conference will be held from Wednesday, February 5 to Friday, February 7, at the University of South Australia, City West Campus in Adelaide. Registration is free, and all are welcome!

Get your tickets here: https://events.humanitix.com/digraaustralia-2025-national-conference

Event Details:
 Hosted by DiGRA Australia and the University of South Australia, this three-day hybrid conference invites game researchers, critics, designers, developers, artists, and enthusiasts at any career stage to come together and engage with the diverse and dynamic world of Game Studies. This year’s theme, “Communities of Practice and Play,” focuses on the roles, experiences, and cultures surrounding games and gameplay. Both in-person and online participation options are available, making the conference accessible to all interested in hearing about, and discussing games, players, and gaming culture.

What to Expect: Attendees will experience a range of presentations, interactive discussions, and engaging exhibitions. Alongside traditional talks, the Experimental Track will showcase creative, interactive works—from digital games to tabletop card games that invite hands-on exploration. 

Highlights Include:

  • In-Person and Online Sessions: Enjoy live presentations and talks with game scholars and creators from across Australia.
  • Experimental Track Exhibit: Discover innovative and playful experiences, including demos, installations, and other interactive projects.
  • Networking Opportunities: Meet fellow attendees and presenters to discuss and explore insights and projects in the world of Game Studies and game development! 

Important Information:

  • Conference Dates: Wednesday to Friday, February 5–7, 2025
  • Location: Bradley Forum, University of South Australia, City West Campus, Adelaide, South Australia. 
    The Bradley Forum is located on Level 5 of the Hawke Building on the City West campus, 50-55 North Terrace, Adelaide
  • Format: Hybrid – join us either in person or online

Cards Against Academia

Posted on by Susie

Recently, my colleague Dr Michele Jarldorn and I were lucky enough to write a chapter for the wonderful book Ludic Inquiries into Power and Pedagogy in Higher Education edited by Ameilia Walker, Helen Grimmett and Alison L. Black.

There are so many amazing chapters in this book, written by so many cool people and discussing games’ interactions with social power, and the different ways in which games and play impact higher education and social learning.

Our chapter was titled Cards Against Academia: Playing the game of ‘opportunities’ through a feminist friendship lens and for this chapter we created the first iteration of a card game exploring promotion in academia, and playtested it together. The abstract is below:

Abstract:

This chapter explores the experiences of two early career female academics through game design, development, and game play. The work seeks to challenge and disrupt the conventional norms of academia by exploring the competitive dynamics of working in higher education through the lens of care and feminist friendships. The game, Cards Against Academia, deploys various game design mechanisms to demonstrate structures of inequality and systems of oppression women in academia experience. The chapter uses duoethnography as a method to think through alternative activist possibilities for women to work in collaboration and proposes that this feminist activism of care is a politically disruptive activity.


Life (Re)Sounding: The Canberra Times

Posted on by Susie

Recently, we were lucky enough to have some wonderful news articles released discussing our game Life (Re)Sounding. One of my favourites recently was this article published by The Canberra Times by Katelyn Catanzariti.

The article really captures some of the ways in which the game has been designed to communicate aspects of neurodiversity whilst acknowledging that every neurodivergent person is unique. I particularly loved this quote in the article from Sarah Langston, president of the Australian Neurodivergent Parents Association:

“I think anything that supports the development of empathy and real connection with the neurodivergent experience is useful, because I think what we often see is a lack of people ‘getting it’. It takes it away from the abstract and into the personal.” – Sarah Langston

If you’re interested, you can read the article in full on the Canberra Times website: https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/8777111/video-game-builds-empathy-for-neurodivergent-experience/

Life ReSounding

Posted on by Susie

Our game Life Resounding has been released in Beta state! You can access it through the links below if you’re interested, we would love to hear your thoughts.

Life (Re)Sounding is a short game/interactive 5 track music album created using Unreal 5 and the MetaMidiToolkit.  It is designed to raise awareness of how hard it is to exist as a neurodivergent person in a neurotypical world, by encouraging players to engage with slices of life of a neurodivergent person thrust into a world that was built for neurotypical people. 

If you’re interested in finding out more about our game, you can watch the video below:

Recently my colleague George and I were lucky enough to speak to Channel 10 News about the work we are doing on Life Resounding.

The game is currently in Beta state meaning there might still be some bugs or issues that need to be ironed out. We would love if you could help us find them! If you like you can play the game for free on itch.io: https://likeglassgames.itch.io/life-resounding