Center for Transformational Play

REGENERATE Game Jam 2026 A game jam from 2026-03-19 to 2026-03-24 hosted by REGENERATE Game Jam & IGDA Climate SIG. The IGDA Climate SIG presents: REGENERATE Game Jam 2026 REGENERATE Game Jam is back, this time with a focus o...

🚨Attention Game Industry professionals! Submissions open soon for REGENERATE Game Jam 2026. Hosted by the IGDA Climate SIG, this year’s jam is dedicated to making games that imagine sustainable futures. The submission window is March 19-22. Learn more 👉 itch.io/jam/regenera...

As Black History Month wraps up its 100th Anniversary, we’d like to celebrate a particularly playful inventor: Lonnie Johnson. NASA engineer, clean energy researcher, AND inventor of one of the best selling toys in history ... the Super Soaker water gun!

Learn More 👉 tinyurl.com/yd5u6ttp

🎉 Meaningful Play's Bluesky has launched! 🎉

Join us Oct 13-15, 2026 in Pittsburgh! Academics, game designers, and educators: If you make or study games, this is the conference for you!

Submission guidelines and registration details will be released soon! Stay tuned…

2/20/2026
新年快樂 Happy Lunar New Year! Some great games to play to celebrate include She Long Men - a fast-paced card game, and Shi Ba La - a classic dice game. But the staple for fun with friends and family is.. Mah Jong. Wishing you sharp minds, steady hands, and winning streaks all year long! 🏮🐴

Hands-On: Discover the Building Blocks of Data with LEGO® Data isn’t just spreadsheets and code. As part of Love Data Week, the Libraries is using LEGO® bricks to visualize trends and explore data story...

Data and LEGO®, together at last! Members of the CMU community are invited to discover the building blocks of data at an interactive workshop using LEGO® Bricks. Explore data concepts and storytelling. (Maybe your minifig can give a presentation) 🗓️Feb. 18, 4-6 pm, Hunt Library

Meaningful Play - Center for Transformational Play - Carnegie Mellon University The Center for Transformational Play for presents Meaningful Play 2026, hosted by Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh in partnership with Michigan State University

🚨Alert!🚨 Meaningful Play conference dates and deadlines announced! Join us for Meaningful Play 2026 Oct 13-15 in Pittsburgh! Key submission dates include:

*Full Papers: March 31
*Games, Lightning Talks, Posters: May 15
*Hosted Sessions: June 15

Submission guidelines will be released soon!

YouTube video by GBel Skiing Rialto Street in Pittsburgh

As we dig ourselves out of the winter weather, we can’t resist sharing a very Pittsburgh playful experience… Along with Rialto Street in Troy Hill, there are additional reports of intrepid skiers and snowboarders on Ohio Street in Monroeville and on South Negley Avenue. Shred the streets! ⛷️🏂🚦

An American Toy Company Produced the World’s First Frisbees, Beloved by Humans and Dogs, on This Day in 1957 The flying disc had humble beginnings but has since become an international phenomenon

Jan. 23 is the day the first official Frisbees came flying off the production line. While folks had been tossing pie plates around since the 1870s, the flingable branded toy by Wham-O was first produced in 1957. Don’t let a little snow stop you from celebrating with a game!

Game Poems Magazine Game Poems is an online playable magazine dedicated to exploring the artistic and poetic potential of short-form videogames. The videogame poem is a concept that challenges traditional boundaries betw...

👀 Check out this nifty new open-access, online journal dedicated to exploring videogame making as an artistic, poetic, and experimental practice. Game Poems just launched its first issue - a curated collection of small interactive works presented alongside artist statements and editorial context.

🚨Current CMU Student Alert!🚨 Are you looking for an independent study centered on game development, research, or graphic design? There’s still time to meet the Jan. 12 deadline for spring opportunities with the CTP! Learn More 👉 tinyurl.com/3n7t3yv7

Winter games for kids | Parents | National Geographic Kids Check out ten easy winter games for kids to play outside! These cool competitions are perfect for getting outdoors…

The weather outside may be frightful this time of year but that’s no reason to avoid outdoor fun and games! Check out this awesome list of “cool” winter games from around the world. (It says it’s for kids. We beg to differ. Enjoy your snow battle!) ❄️⛷️☃️

Making game night count Dr. Jessica Hammer is here to show us how to play smarter, laugh harder and make every game night count.

Want to wrap up family fun and the ultimate present in the same box? CTP Director Dr. Jessica Hammer spoke on KDKA's Talk Pittsburgh about how games and play can be the gift that keeps on giving. (There's also a nod to some amazing games designed by our @cmu.edu colleagues!)

Guess who’s going to be on KDKA's Talk Pittsburgh today? Live at 3pm Dec. 8! Watch here 👉 www.cbsnews.com/pittsburgh/talk-pittsburgh/
#centerfortransformationalplay
#holidaygamenight

A heartfelt THANK YOU to everyone who gave on Tuesday to support our work! Donors like you help us continue our mission of building community, doing high-quality research, and helping people solve problems through the power of games and play. ♥️

Today is the day! Dec. 2 is the 11th annual #givingCMUday when members of the Tartan community kick off their end-of-year giving by supporting meaningful areas of CMU. Your gift boosts the work we do and supports students across the game design community.
Support the CTP 👉 tinyurl.com/34tzc6nh

Center for Transformational Play Join me and make a gift to Giving CMU Day 2025

This Tuesday, join us in empowering current and future Tartans through #GivingCMUDay! Help us create new opportunities for bold ideas and innovation and support students across the game design community! 💝🧑‍🎓

The Wizard Behind The AI Curtain: When AI Turns On Its Users Without independent audits—the modern equivalent of the “Toto” test—we cannot know whether AI is benevolent, careless or actively malicious.

Artificial Intelligence may not only be a source of data leaks, but also manipulation. The work of our colleagues at the Carnegie Mellon Software Engineering Institute warns that poor communication of AI outputs can fuel bad decisions. Learn more 👉

ETC Transformational Play - Center for Transformational Play - Carnegie Mellon University The Entertainment Technology Center at Carnegie Mellon University will be offering as part of the Master’s of Entertainment Technology an optional concentration in Transformational Play through the Ce...

🎉 We’re excited to announce that in Fall 2026, we’re partnering with the Entertainment Technology Center to offer a concentration in Transformational Play as part of the Master’s of Entertainment Technology! Learn more about the program and how to apply. Applications are due by Jan. 1, 2026!

‘Godfather of AI’ becomes first person to hit one million citations The milestone makes machine-learning trailblazer Yoshua Bengio the most cited researcher on Google Scholar.

👀 What a milestone! (And what a bar for our own students to reach for … no pressure 😉) #researchgoals #GoogleScholarFamous 🎓💻

Screen shot of webpage with text and video blocks

🤖🌐 CTP Director Dr. Jessica Hammer was delighted to be part of PA State @repdanmiller.com’s latest Community Webinar. The panel discussion centered on the intersection of artificial intelligence and its use for social engagement. Check out the video! 👉 pahouse.com/miller/communitywebinars

See the Good! in USA This is "See the Good! in USA" by See the Good! on Vimeo, the home for high quality videos and the people who love them.

Our friends over at en.seethegood.app are working to bring their innovative and playful classroom programs to schools in Pennsylvania. Learn more - and see Pittsburgh represented on the news in Finland! 🇫🇮 📰

A drawing of a cabin on a hill in the woods

🎃🐈‍⬛ Celebrate Halloween with a cheeky horror tragicomedy - Slay the Princess. A mysterious voice says you must kill a princess in a cabin in the woods. If you fail - it will bring about the end of the world. We saved the spookiest for last: Three out of five 👻👻👻
Link 👉 blacktabbygames.com/press-stp

A graphic with the words "Home Safety Hotline" and a 555 phone number.

Let’s keep up the creepy with Home Safety Hotline. In this analog game players take on the role of a telephone operator who must answer incoming callers’ questions about what’s inside their home. Spookiness Rating of two out of five 👻👻
Link 👉 igdb.com/games/244303/presskit

A slightly spookier game recommendation: Cult of the Lamb casts players in the role of a possessed lamb saved from annihilation by an ominous stranger… but now you must repay the debt. This one gets a Spookiness Rating of two out of five 👻👻
Link 👉 igdb.com/games/cult-of-the-lamb/presskit

Tuesday’s Halloween treat is a life-sim game about camping on a haunted, ever-changing island. In Cozy Grove you’re a spirit scout wandering the forest, finding hidden secrets, and helping soothe the local ghosts. Spookiness Rating: One out of five 👻
👉 www.qag.io/cg/

Spiritfarer Press Kit | Thunder Lotus Spiritfarer is a cozy management game about dying. You play Stella, ferrymaster to the deceased, a Spiritfarer. Build a boat to explore the world, then

In support of a happy Halloween, The CTP is spending the week sharing some “spirited” favorite games. First up: Spiritfarer. You play Stella, ferrymaster to the deceased. Build a boat to explore the world!
Spookiness Rating: One out of five 👻

Woman presenting a poster at CHI PLAY 2025

CHI PLAY's Work In Progress (WIP) contributions provide a unique opportunity for authors to present reports on original yet incomplete work that seeks to advance our current knowledge in games and play through innovative or thought-provoking ideas. Great work all who presented! tinyurl.com/y27zs65w

Our Project Baseplate partners over at cmu.edu/gelfand and mattsmakerspace.org are continuing to amplify learning in Pittsburgh and beyond!
Read more 👉 tinyurl.com/5xmuvnxb

The CTP is honored to celebrate the 2025 Andy Awards @cmu.edu and to be recognized in three categories:
🏆Commitment to Community Engagement
🏆Commitment to Excellence
🏆Teamwork and Collaboration
Congratulations to all the nominees and thank you for all you do to support CMU! 👉 tinyurl.com/3enrj7b7

New Media Offers New Ways to Spark STEM Learning - Center for Transformational Play - Carnegie Mellon University Support from CMU researchers and the Center for Transformational play is helping the long-running PBS series NOVA explore collaborative science learning through the medium of livestreams on Twitch

The CTP’s Director, Dr. Jessica Hammer, shared her expertise to support producers of the long-running @pbs.org series NOVA as they explored collaborative science learning through the mediums of livestreams like Twitch. Check out the results of the research!