Play Journal: December 2019

This is most likely the last regular Play Journal entry for a while. I gave it a shot, kept it going through 2019, and I’m happy about that. For now, I think it’s a bit too involved and I end up spending too much time on it (this being written in February/March 2020 should be evidence enough). It asks a lot for something that feels like it doesn’t pay off in any way except simply noting any games down in a special section of a daily planner would. That being said, for whatever reason, here’s some stuff I wrote about things I played in December 2019, when we were all still young and innocent.

Let’s see what the Play Journal looks like in 2020. I shouldn’t and will try not to sweat any of the minutiae. Death is coming.

 

Play Journal: June 2019

July invites me to taste its riches and behold its glory, but I can’t resist risking the Orphic glance back at June with all its ups and downs. My game design class graduated and we celebrated accordingly (local multiplayer party). My oldest kid turned 8 and we celebrated accordingly (local multiplayer party). Late in the month, I started at a summer gig facilitating games activities for young people in Malmö at Spelens Hus. It involves a lot of plugging in of controllers, and troubleshooting, and locking and unlocking doors, and being patient and friendly but not always playful, I’m afraid. Somewhere in between all this, Harry Potter: Wizards Unite launched. My calendar says there were 30 days of no holds barred June but they must have forgotten the nights or something because it feels like more right now.

 

Play Journal: May 2019

June is here and it’s time to stop/collaborate/listen, at least if I’m to believe some marketing guy giving a talk at Nordic Game Conference breaking it down for all the kids. I look back at May with a sense of amazement. I had low periods; days where I did nothing but listen to podcasts and play idle games on my phone. Nevertheless, I managed to find a bucketful of playful stuff to throw myself into. In the interest of not boring myself, I’ve kept a few of these entries to a minimum. If you’re reading this, I hope you June 2019 will be somewhat satisfactory or at least easily forgotten about should it be a disappointment.
 

 

Play Journal: March 2019

I don’t have an April Fools’ thing to come at you with because life is enough of a joke for me to laugh until I’m dead, so let’s… just… GOOOOOO! So much stuff happened in March. I feel like a sober alcoholic listing all the things I’m grateful for, but whatever. It is what it is and what it is is beautiful.

Speaking of beautiful, Malmö Play Club is for real, for real back and I’m hosting a play session at Garaget in Malmö on April 14. Check the Facebook event or just show up at 4 pm, Sunday, April 14. Let’s play.

Play Journal: February 2019

Welcome to March 2019, let’s talk about February 2019! 

I didn’t go to Knudepunkt, but I got to play a bunch of interesting things anyway. For example, February saw the resurrection of the fabled Play Club! I also went for a proper drift for the first time since December 2017.
A bit unexpectedly, two of the major entries here are chiefly concerned with performance art / participatory theater. Bear with me as I try to figure out what actually counts as “play”. I’m sure it’ll only take a lifetime.