In this article, game designer Sande Chen reports on research findings regarding remote learning during the pandemic. As the parent of little ones and an expert in educational games, I welcomed the opportunity to hear the latest research from Patricia K. Kuhl, the Bezos Family Foundation Endowed Chair for Early Childhood Learning, about the effects of remote learning on children. Her research on the "social brain," the neural network that allows us to interpret social cues, reinforces the need for social interaction in education, something I have stressed in my presentations about t ..read more

 Hello! It's January 2022.  Though I haven't been updating the blog, that doesn't mean I wasn't presenting or doing interviews.  After SXSW and CIMFest, I participated in two MCM London Comic Con panels, "The Art of the Onomatopoeia" and "Creating Diverse Characters for Comics and More."  I presented at SIEGE and Serious Play Conferences and was interviewed by Women in Games and Negocios TV. But on a personal note, I completed the LAUNCH1000 program, an intensive course on entrepreneurship.  You may have seen that I did a new, improved version of my webinar on game wri ..read more

In this video from 2021 CIMFest, game designers and community managers discuss how to remove toxicity from game communities. Originally scheduled for 2020 GDC, this roundtable on Designing Non-Toxic Game Communities was canceled due to the pandemic. We are so grateful to the Georgia Game Developers Association for allowing this roundtable to occur during Columbus Interactive Media Festival (CIMFest). Participants: Sande Chen (moderator) Brad Merritt, director of game design for Cartoon Network Kat De Shields-Moon, PR manager for Schell Games Joshua Quinnett, senior community manager at Gal ..read more

Last year, I was planning to have another run of Game Writing Primer but the pandemic and subsequent lockdown made that impossible. I checked in with my former students and was delighted to hear of their successes, games, awards, job offers, start-ups, and even a pending wedding between two of them! PlayCrafting asked me to do a Webinar, which I knew could not be the same as the popular workshop series, Game Writing Portfolio Workout.  This remote learning Webinar was informational and not that interactive. Still, from the feedback I've gathered, my students found it very useful ..read more

Last year, when I interviewed numerous aspiring game writers and narrative designers, I discovered that many were a bit fuzzy on the actual day-to-day tasks of the job.  It was much like when people ask about game design and then find out with surprise that the actual job entails spreadsheets.  Game writers and narrative designers often look at spreadsheets too!   There were so many questions about working within a team, interfacing with other departments, and what a person actually does on the job.  Therefore, it's my pleasure to be interviewed by career site Owl ..read more

Happy to be interviewed in the Women in Games Global Games Awards Meet the Winners Series, coming up tomorrow! July 1st at 1 PM EST. Find out when the stream is starting on the Women in Games Twitch channel at www.twitch.tv/wigj Last week, I spoke at the Serious Play Conference on Design Principles for Early Education Apps.  In addition to new recommendations, I echoed what I've been saying in "What's Wrong with Pre-K Game Apps." When asked for apps that I've been excited about, I praised Dragonbox Big Numbers and Bedtime Math.   Instead of a bedtime ..read more

 Hi!  If you missed our SXSW panel, you can catch it here on the SXSW 2021 YouTube channel.  It's completely different from the LudoNarraCon one even though the topic is the same.  There was just so much more to talk about emotional touchstones in emergent narrative! If you want to know more about touchstones (Touchstones! Touchstones! Touchstones!), this Saturday June 12, 2021, we are headlining the Georgia Game Developers Association CIMFest and I also will be moderating IGDA GDSIG's skipped (due to the cancellation of GDC last year) roundtable, Creating Non-Toxic ..read more

Hello! I will be one of the artists participating in ArtsWestchester's Together apART: Creating During COVID exhibition, opening May 7. There will be a parallel digital exhibition (details updated when I get them!) One year after the start of the pandemic, ArtsWestchester plans on reopening its gallery doors to the public for the Together apART exhibition. It features more than 250 works of artwork by Hudson Valley artists in the form of sculpture, painting, photography, sewing, pottery, handicrafts, and writing. All were created in response to the pandemic and subsequent lockdown.  Ent ..read more

Hi!  If you missed it, the SXSW Online 2021 panel, Creating Touchstones in Emergent Narrative, is still up on-demand for pass holders.  I'll be speaking on a panel, Screenwriting for Games: The Challenge of Choice-Based Narratives, next week at SCAD Gaming Fest along with Patric Verrone and Marianne Krawczyk. This high-powered event was organized in collaboration with the Writers Guild Foundation. SCAD stands for Savannah College of Art and Design. Here's the panel description: Title: Screenwriting for Games: The Challenge of Choice-Based Narratives When: Friday, Apri ..read more

Hi!  Excited to announce that our panel Creating Touchstones in Emergent Narratives will be part of SXSW Online 2021 under the track Transforming the Entertainment Landscape.   We had so much to talk about during our LudoNarraCon session that we felt like we could go on for another hour. The SXSW session will delve into new areas as we discuss recapture techniques, why touchstones are important, and more! Join us at SXSW Online March 16-20, 2021. Here's the panel description: Creating Touchstones in Emergent Narratives Games have a unique ability to establish ..read more