Doruk Balcı

University of York

I am a second-year PhD student at the University of York, and a game maker interested in the relationship between player creativity and game design. My background is in economics and game studies. I am also a self-taught programmer and have been making digital games, tools and toys independently since 2019, with some design experience in the game industry. My other interests include: drawing, literature, cooking and playing with tools I don't really understand.

Designing for Appropriative Play

How do we make games which we want to be messed with, changed fundamentally beyond our expectations in play? How do we make up rules that are intended to be bent, changed or broken? Why would we want that? Play practices that transform structures, subvert expectations and re-define their contexts are celebrated in many aspects of culture and can lead to personal and meaningful experiences. Yet research on this topic from a game design perspective has been scarce. In my project, I am exploring how we can design game systems that invite players to assume ownership of their play-practices through exploring alternative paradigms of game design.