Designing Games You Love: Jarratt Gray

10:15 - 11:15, Friday 20 June 2025

Join Jarratt Gray, designer of both board and video games, as he discusses his design philosophy and walks through the process, from pitch to playtesting, and all the hurdles along the way, as a co-designer of Endeavor Deep Sea.

Failing Forward - The Art of Rewarding Risk Taking (And Failure): Chris Jacobs

11:30 - 12:30, Friday 20 June 2025

A journey and discussion of Lifeship's fail forward design. How does it work? Why is it important? And how thinking about and building for failure in game design leads to better outcomes for players. Chris Jacobs from Ikarangi Labs shares some practical steps from his journey on Lifeship.

How to get a foot in the RPG industry door using someone else's IP (but in a legit way): Andrew Bean & Michael O’Brien

13:15 - 14:15, Friday 20 June 2025

Want to write for roleplaying games? Now is the perfect time to get your foot in the industry door with community content programs on DriveThruRPG. These are an ideal proving ground for you to hone your writing and creating skills, publish your work, and build an audience. And, come to the attention of major publishers like Wizards of the Coast and Chaosium!

Michael O'Brien, Vice President & co-owner of Chaosium Inc & Andrew Bean, Convention Coordinator ANZ & APAC Chaosium, bring you this workshop that will show you how.

Can Tabletop Roleplaying Games be Another Tool for our Wellbeing-Toolbox?: Shaun Garea

14:30 - 15:30, Friday 20 June 2025

This talk introduces psychological and game design theories, and then explores how understanding these ideas through research can help us see where and how tabletop roleplaying games (TTRPG’s) may provide a rather unique opportunity for gaining social, emotional and cognitive skills. With a focus on Aotearoa, the talk will also highlight existing research, where more research is needed, and discuss how TTRPG’s set the stage for personal benefits through their open systems, curation of settings, shared narrative, and social experiences. Our presenter Shaun Garea is a lecturer/researcher at Massey University, lab director at the Gaming Research and Investigation Laboratory (GRAIL). 

Playing to Find Out: Studying, Making, and Playing Games at Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington: Dylan Horrocks & Hamish Cameron

15:45 - 16:45, Friday 20 June 2025

Ever wanted to design your own board game or role-playing game? Do you think way too much about how games work and what they can do? Are you interested in the role of gaming in culture and society? You’re not alone! A growing number of staff and students are getting serious about games at Te Herenga Waka | Victoria University of Wellington. In this talk, Hamish Cameron and Dylan Horrocks, Senior Lecturers at Te Herenga Waka | Victoria University of Wellington, introduce some of the exciting things happening in game studies and game design at the university, from the Visual Narrative Lab to the Game Studies Lab, and some snapshots of their own work – studying, making, and playing games at Vic!

This Is How We Roll: Shaking up the World of Work with RPGs: Emma Prentice & Tamara Buckland

17:00 - 18:00, Friday 20 June 2025

Step into a world where the mundane becomes magical - your work day just became an adventure. In this interactive session, Tamara from Leadership Treehouse and Emma from Grey Matter Development invite you to share an immersive experience that blurs the lines between game mechanics and workplace dynamics. Discover how role-playing games can be professionally transformative, fostering creativity, empathy, and strategic thinking. Whether you’re a curious leader or a nerdy professional, get ready to throw out the rulebook and pick up some dice. Change is coming, roll for initiative…