https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/19740 2026-04-04T22:16:41Z 2026-04-04T22:16:41Z Gualeni, Stefano https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/143910 2026-02-20T12:53:04Z 2026-02-16T00:00:00Z

Title: Playing with the dead : dead pools and the case of Fantamorto Authors: Gualeni, Stefano Abstract: Dead people can take part in gameplay. These playful possibilities reflect two broad trends in the social perception of human finitude: death acceptance and death denial. Some of the playful practices discussed in this article align with perspectives that regard mortality as a foundational -- and even affirmative -- aspect of human existence. These are games and videogames designed to sustain a sense of continuity and familiarity with the departed. Other games adopt a more antagonistic stance toward the dead, trivializing and commodifying their personal and historical significance. Among the latter, this article devotes particular attention to a family of playful practices known as “dead pool games,” playful folk phenomena that have thus far been overlooked within game studies. Foregrounding the representational and ethical stakes of playing with the dead, the second half of the article traces the historical development of dead pool games and examines the ethically contentious design decisions that shape this genre. The inquiry culminates in an ethics-oriented analysis of the gameplay and design of Fantamorto -- a popular contemporary Italian instantiation of the dead pool game formula, with particular attention to how its rules frame death and human suffering as ludic resources within a competitive game economy.

2026-02-16T00:00:00Z Oliva, Costantino https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/143133 2026-01-27T09:33:09Z 2025-04-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Night Parade of 100 Demons : adapting Japanese folklore to game musicking research Authors: Oliva, Costantino Abstract: This paper presents Night Parade of 100 Demons (Oliva, 2024), a research-oriented mobile game designed to foster musical improvisation, here identified as an under practiced form of game musicking (Oliva, 2019, 2023). It consists of four minigames each starring a different yōkai, mischievous creatures of Japanese folklore. Each yōkai is the protagonist of a musical, playful vignette, inspired by popular yokai legends.

2025-04-01T00:00:00Z Gualeni, Stefano https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/142385 2025-12-22T07:20:16Z 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Antagonistic game design : the author as a player Authors: Gualeni, Stefano Abstract: This article examines a particular relationship between game authors and players: the possibility for game authors to co-opt the role of players in the very game they created. Among the various ways in which this can occur, the article concentrates on ‘antagonistic game de-sign’: the creation of games meant to frustrate and provoke their players. Player engage-ment, I argue, does not solely arise from the pleasure of overcoming in-game obstacles, participating in the unfolding of the game’s narrative or defeating other players, but can also emerge from resisting and opposing an imagined persona: the off-putting and often sadistic (implied) author behind the work. By projecting an unsympathetic and adversarial attitude towards players, antagonistically designed games can establish an asynchronous adversarial relationship with them and foster distinctive avenues for meaning-making and the self-validation of players.

2025-01-01T00:00:00Z Sun, Yuqian Gualeni, Stefano https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/139132 2025-09-22T08:52:57Z 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Between puppet and actor : reframing authorship in this age of AI agents Authors: Sun, Yuqian; Gualeni, Stefano Abstract: This chapter examines the conceptual tensions in understanding artificial intelligence (AI) agents’ role in creative processes, particularly focusing on Large Language Models (LLMs). Building upon Schmidt’s 1954 categorization of human-technology relationships and the classical definition of “author,” this chapter proposes to understand AI agency as existing somewhere between that of an inanimate puppet and a performing actor. While AI agents demonstrate a degree of creative autonomy, including the ability to improvise and construct complex narrative content in interactive storytelling, they cannot be considered authors in the classical sense of the term. This chapter thus suggests that AI agents exist in a dynamic state between human-controlled puppets and semi-autonomous actors. This conceptual positioning reflects how AI agents, while they can certainly contribute to creative work, remain bound to human direction. We also argue that existing conceptual frames concerning authorship should evolve and adapt to capture these new relationships.

2025-01-01T00:00:00Z