Transformative Play

History@Play lecture and hands-on workshop by Prof. Sarah Lynne Bowman and Kjell Hedgard Hugaas, Uppsala University, Sweden

This new edition of History@Play explores how transformative game design can be used to engage audiences with complex, contested, and sensitive histories.

Combining a lecture, a live-action role-play (LARP), and a hands-on game design workshop, the event offers both theoretical insights and practical tools for working with challenging historical content.

The programme draws on the work of the Transformative Play Initiative at Uppsala University , which investigates how role-playing and game-based methods can promote reflection, empathy, and meaningful learning experiences.

Programme

• 10.00

  Lecture: Transformative Play

  This lecture will describe basic principles in transformative game design with an emphasis on analog role-playing games, such as tabletop and live action (LARP). The presenters will explain how to design educational interventions with specific goals in mind, such as learning objectives related to exploring difficult topics in historical or heritage studies. This model for transformative game design is focused on the framing surrounding the activity, including workshop and debriefing activities, that help participants ease into play and process the experience afterward.

• 11.00

  Coffee break

• 11.15

  LARP Session: The Committee (max. 15 participants)

  Participants take part in a modified version of The Committee, a dynamic role-playing experience in which they step into the roles of museum professionals faced with a difficult curatorial decision. Working as a committee, they debate the inclusion of a controversial object in an exhibition, balancing competing priorities.

• 12.45

  Lunch break

• 14.00

  Game Design Workshop

  In the afternoon, the presenters will offer a short game design workshop for participants to learn how to apply principles of transformative game design in practice.

• 16.00

  End of the event

About the speakers

Sarah Lynne Bowman (Ph.D. in Arts and Humanities, UT Dallas) is a scholar, game designer, and event organizer. Currently, she is an Associate Professor and Docent in Game Design at Uppsala University Campus Gotland. Bowman co-edited The Wyrd Con Companion Book (2012-2015) and currently edits for the International Journal of Role-Playing, Nordiclarp.org, and the Transformative Play Research Series. She has co-organized several conferences, including the Transformative Play Initiative Seminar (2022, 2025), and the Edu-Larp Conference (2025, 2026). She is also Chairperson of the Board for Evocative Games AB. Through various organizations, Bowman is a project manager on numerous EU projects, including Erasmus+ EDGE, ROCKET, and Dystolarp, and Horizon Europe’s Larpocracy.

Kjell Hedgard Hugaas (M.A. in Game Design, UU), (he/him) is a Northern Norwegian game designer, organizer, writer, theorist, and trained actor. Hugaas is a founding member of the Transformative Play Initiative at Uppsala University. His thesis work has explored concepts related to the psychology of play, including bleed effects from character to player and vice versa, as well as the impacts of larp on attitudes and anxieties around death. He is employed as a project assistant at UU in connection with their Erasmus+ EDGE and ROCKET projects. He also works for LARPifiers in Horizon Europe’s Larpocracy project and is CEO of the game studio and research company Evocative Games AB, where he helps project manage the Erasmus+ project Dystolarp.

This is a free event. Registration is required for on-site participation (LARP and workshop), which is limited to 15 participants. The lecture can also be attended online without registration. Lunch and coffee will be provided for on-site participants.

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