Gamelab researchers

Frans Mäyrä

Professor, Director

Frans Mäyrä, PhD, is the Professor of Information Studies and Interactive Media, with specialization in digital culture and game studies in Tampere University, Finland. Since 2002, he has been heading the Tampere University Game Research Lab, and he has taught and studied digital culture and games from the early 1990s. He is widely consulted as an expert in socio-cultural issues relating to games, play and playfulness. His research interests range from game cultures, meaning making through playful interaction and online social play, to borderlines, identity, as well as transmedial fantasy and science fiction. He is also the director of the Academy of Finland funded Centre of Excellence in Game Culture Studies (2018-2025).

Profile and publications: https://researchportal.tuni.fi/en/persons/frans-m%C3%A4yr%C3%A4

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6283-417X

Websites: https://www.unet.fi https://fransmayra.fi

Olli Sotamaa

Professor, Director

Olli Sotamaa is a professor of game culture studies at the Tampere University. He also serves as a team leader at the Centre of Excellence in Game Culture Studies (2018-2025). His publications cover e.g. local game development cultures, creative labor, user-generated content, and player cultures. Sotamaa’s latest book Game Production Studies (Amsterdam University Press, 2021) edited with Jan Švelch is the first anthology dedicated solely to critical analysis of video game production.

Profile and publications: https://researchportal.tuni.fi/en/persons/olli-sotamaa

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2169-8685

Jaakko Stenros

University Lecturer, Docent

Jaakko Stenros (PhD) is a University Lecturer in Game Studies working at the Centre of Excellence in Game Culture Studies (at the Game Research Lab, Tampere University). He has published ten books and over 90 articles and reports, and has taught game studies for well over a decade. Stenros studies play and games, his research interests include norm-defying play, game jams, queer play, role-playing games, pervasive games, game rules, and playfulness.

Profile and publications: https://researchportal.tuni.fi/en/persons/jaakko-stenros

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0320-7042

Website: https://jaakkostenros.wordpress.com

Kati Alha

University Lecturer

Kati Alha (PhD) is a researcher and a university lecturer, teaching game studies in Tampere University, Finland. She works at the Centre of Excellence in Game Culture Studies, and has studied games from multiple perspectives since 2009, including research into free-to-play games, mobile games and location-based games.

Profile and publications: https://researchportal.tuni.fi/en/persons/kati-alha

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0160-7376

Thomas Apperley

Senior Research Fellow

Tom (he/him) is from Aotearoa/New Zealand, and has lived in Suomi/Finland since 2019. His research interests currently include: avatars in videogames and social media, the history of table-top roleplaying (pre 1990), and the interplay and entanglements of gender, sexuality, pornography and sex work in historical and contemporary gaming cultures.

Profile and publications: https://researchportal.tuni.fi/en/persons/thomas-apperley

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6390-6593

Heikki Tyni

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Heikki Tyni, PhD, is a post-doctoral researcher in Tampere University. His work has covered various topics related to digital games industries, including the formation of the Finnish game industry, material aspects of the digital game culture, and various business and production models for games. His doctoral dissertation examined the political economy and audience reception of games crowdfunding.

Profile and publications: https://researchportal.tuni.fi/en/persons/heikki-tyni

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0140-4755

Rainforest Scully-Blaker

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Rainforest Scully-Blaker (he/him) earned his PhD in Informatics from the University of California, Irvine in 2022 and most recently worked as a Visiting Lecturer in Game Design at Uppsala University (Campus Gotland). His research is concerned with critical approaches to the study of games and those who play them, and he is interested in exploring how play can both uphold and dismantle hegemony. His dissertation research focused on systemic ‘exhaustion’ and how video games enable and may yet operate against the oppressive stasis of neoliberal, late capitalism.

Profile and publications:
https://researchportal.tuni.fi/en/persons/rainforest-scully-blaker
ORCID:
https://orcid.org/0009-0000-2255-0749

Joleen Blom

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Joleen Blom is a postdoctoral researcher at the Centre of Excellence in Game Culture Studies and at the Game Research Lab at Tampere University. She holds a BA degree in Japan Studies, an MA degree in Media and Performance Studies, and a PhD in Game Studies from the Center for Computer Games at the IT University of Copenhagen, where she was a member of the ERC Advanced grant project Making Sense of Games (MSG). Her research interests include transmedia storytelling, Japanese games and culture, characters, and parasocial connections and intimacy through technology and media. She has published on these topics in journals such as Narrative, ToDiGRA, and Replaying Japan, and edited collections like Japanese Role-Playing Games Genre, Representation, and Liminality in the JRPG.

Profile and publications: https://researchportal.tuni.fi/en/persons/johanna-blom

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2206-4497

Website: https://joleenblom.com

Usva Friman

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Usva Friman (PhD) is a game culture researcher whose research is focused on the themes of equity, cultural participation, and cultural agency in digital gaming and esports, particularly from the perspective of women and other marginalised players. She is currently working as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Centre of Excellence in Game Culture Studies and Tampere University Game Research Lab in Finland. Friman serves as the President of The Finnish Association for Game Research since 2023. She is the first editor of book Pelit kulttuurina (‘Games as Culture’, Vastapaino, 2022).

Profile and publications: https://researchportal.tuni.fi/en/persons/usva-friman

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1537-5297

Website: https://usvafriman.net

Mikko Meriläinen

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Mikko Meriläinen is a Postdoctoral Researcher at Tampere University Game Research Lab, working in the Centre of Excellence in Game Culture Studies, funded by the Academy of Finland. In his work, Meriläinen is currently exploring youth gaming cultures, adulthood and masculinities in digital gaming, hostile online behaviour, and miniaturing.

Profile and publications: https://researchportal.tuni.fi/en/persons/mikko-meril%C3%A4inen

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9621-684X

Website: https://mikkomerilainen.com

Matilda Ståhl

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Matilda Ståhl (PhD in Education from Åbo Akademi University) is currently working as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Centre of Excellence in Game Culture Studies and the Game Research Lab at Tampere University in Finland. Her research is focused on social interaction and playing games as a shared experience and how is that is shaped by social norms. Matilda primarily does ethnographic work, either entirely or partially online.

Profile and publications:
https://researchportal.tuni.fi/en/persons/matilda-ståhl
ORCID:
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4248-8804

Jani Kinnunen

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Jani Kinnunen (PhD, MSocSci) is a researcher in Tampere University, Finland. His research has focused on blurring lines between gambling and digital gaming and how money and other game-related currencies influence players’ experiences.

Profile and publications: https://researchportal.tuni.fi/en/persons/jani-kinnunen
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1918-6269

Elisa Wiik

Doctoral Researcher

Elisa Wiik is a doctoral researcher who is researching Finnish lapsed playes for her PhD in Tampere University. She has also worked on the coordinator team of the Centre of Excellence in Game Culture Studies and taught courses on game journalism and taking care of the OASIS space on campus. Her other research interests include transmedia, science fiction and location-based games. She also works as a freelance game reviewer for Mikrobitti website.

Profile and publications: https://researchportal.tuni.fi/en/persons/elisa-wiik

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2434-4935

Ville Kankainen

Doctoral Researcher

Ville Kankainen (MSc) has been working in Game Lab since 2014 on various research projects. He is currently finalizing his dissertation about the intersections of material and digital play in tabletop games. Kankainen enjoys exploring the margins and outskirts of (game) cultures, with over 20 publications on topics like game design, game-based learning, game jams, board games, and hybrid play. He is also a published board and serious game designer, with additional experience in design consultancy, graphic design and web development.

Profile and publications: https://researchportal.tuni.fi/fi/persons/ville-kankainen

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1356-3948

Aska Mayer

Doctoral Researcher

Aska Mayer (M.A.) is a Doctoral Researcher at Tampere University, working on the exploration of human augmentation in/through/as games. Within the doctoral research project, the goal is to provide a holistic and systemic perspective on augmented human bodies through the combined application of Game Studies, Somaesthetics, and HCI, as well as locating the fictional and real body as a playground for experimental bio technological modifications. Additional research interests include idea-historical approaches to digital games, philosophy of the neo-baroque, and apocalyptic media culture.

Profile and publications:
https://researchportal.tuni.fi/en/persons/aska-mayer
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0161-2944

Elina Koskinen

Doctoral Researcher

Elina Koskinen (M.A.) first joined the Game Research Lab in 2014 taking part in the Free2Play -project. In addition to free-to-play games, she has been studying location-based games and ethics & game design. Her PhD work concentrates on memorable player experiences in Pokémon GO. She is an active volunteer in different games related associations, e.g. IGDA Finland and Finnish Game Jam organization.

Profile and publications: https://researchportal.tuni.fi/en/persons/elina-koskinen

ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4082-6582

Taina Myöhänen

Doctoral Researcher

Taina Myöhänen is a doctoral researcher studying diversity in the game industry. Myöhänen has over 15 years of background in the game industry in project, people and company management, and is one of the founding members and the first chairperson (2019-2022) of We in Games Finland ry, the organisation supporting diversity in the Finnish game industry. Myöhänen has two MA degrees, one in Cultural Studies and the other in New Media.

Profile and publications:
https://researchportal.tuni.fi/en/persons/taina-myöhänen
ORCID:
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6701-5459

Riikka Aurava

Doctoral Researcher

Riikka Aurava (MA) is finalizing her PhD on game jams in formal education in the Growing Mind research project . Her other academic interests are tabletop role playing games, materiality of ttrpg’s, actual plays, streamers and YouTubers, parasocial relationships, fan communities and fanfiction.

Profile and publications: https://researchportal.tuni.fi/en/persons/riikka-aurava

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4323-2664

Website: https://riikkaaurava.fi

Leland Masek

Doctoral Researcher

Leland Masek, MSc., is a PhD student studying at Tampere University’s Doctoral Programme in Media, Communication, and Performance Arts. He currently works with the Centre of Excellence in Game Culture Studies at Tampere University in Finland and the HEAL lab at Oregon State University. He is leading the Playful Life Project, with two years of funding by the Finnish Cultural Foundation. His publications focus on the meaning of playfulness and wellbeing from theoretical perspectives and in-person interviews. He is also a non-digital game designer with nine years professional experience. He has produced game projects with various partners in the United States and Finland such the Finnish museum of Games, the city of Tampere, Brooklyn Game Lab, Live in Theater, Spoken Word Theater and Guardian Adventures in Boston.

Profile and publications: https://researchportal.tuni.fi/en/persons/leland-masek

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2694-9129

Hanne Grasmo

Doctoral Researcher

Hanne Grasmo is a doctoral researcher at Tampere University. Her PhD research centers around embodied role-play and sexual emotions, both in Nordic larp and in BDSM communities. Focus areas are role-play design, immersion, queer play and transformative play. Both personally and professionally she is interested in exploring borders, edges and unknown possibilities. Grasmo holds a MA in sociology, and have additional background from sexology, education, theatre and larp design. Grasmo has discussed and written about larp for more than 20 years, founded the Knutepunkt larp conferences, wrote the first book about Nordic larp (1998) and published a monograph of her well know larp: “Just a little lovin’ larp script” in 2021.

Profile and publictions: https://researchportal.tuni.fi/en/persons/hanne-grasmo

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1959-3072

Website: https://hannegrasmo.com

Mark Maletska

Doctoral Researcher

Mark Maletska (MPhil) is a Doctoral Researcher at Tampere University working on relationship between game mechanics and process of self-discovering gender identity. His research interests also include queer game studies and approaches to understanding games by players, spectators and developers.

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3123-9500

Kalle Laakso

Researcher

Kalle Laakso (MA) is working as a researcher in the Growing mind project focused on youth gaming culture. They have a master’s degree in the field of sociology and have previously worked on research relating to care robotics and the robotization of work.

Profile and publications: https://researchportal.tuni.fi/fi/persons/kalle-laakso

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1682-9580

Julián Gutiérrez Carrera

Doctoral Researcher

Julian Gutiérrez Carrera (MSocSci) is a doctoral researcher at Tampere University’s Game Research Lab. His dissertation focuses on how videogames represent, simulate, and discuss suicide. His research interests also include the form of videogames, their meanings, and their intersections with literature and literariness.

Profile and publications: https://researchportal.tuni.fi/en/persons/julian-alejandro-gutierrez-carrera

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0007-2505-2578

Essi Taino

Doctoral Researcher

Essi Taino (MA) is a doctoral researcher working for project PEGASUS, which focuses on issues of diversity, equity and inclusion in Finnish game culture. Essi has a background in digital youth work, esports and game education.

Profile and publications: https://researchportal.tuni.fi/en/persons/essi-taino

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-5119-9712

Aasa Timonen

Doctoral Researcher

Aasa Timonen (MA) is a doctoral researcher at Tampere Game Research lab. Her research is focused on the transmedia practices of analog games. Her upcoming dissertation work is about the transmedia worldbuilding of Warhammer 40,000, how it has changed over the decades, and how players navigate in the changing worlds of the grim darkness of the far future, both on the tabletop and outside of it. As a life-long Warhammer hobbyist, her expertise on the subject is a mix of both academic knowledge and personal experience with various analog games.

Profile and publications: https://researchportal.tuni.fi/en/persons/aasa-halla-aurora-timonen

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0007-2505-2578

Casey O’Donnel

Fulbright Finland University Scholar

Casey is an Associate Professor from Michigan State University in the Department of Media & Information. Casey is a game maker and game researcher who studies game work and the culture of game makers. Casey’s Fulbright Finland Scholar award is a research project titled “Making Games Differently,” in collaboration with the Centre of Excellence in Game Culture Studies at Tampere University. The research is focused on the work of game making in Finland and elsewhere “post” pandemic and in the context of late stage capitalism.

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5396-6384

Affiliated researchers

J. Tuomas Harviainen

Professor

J. Tuomas Harviainen (PhD, MBA) is Professor of Information Studies and Interactive Media at Tampere University. His research work deals with the information sharing practices of various marginal or professional communities, ranging from game developers to drug traders, swingers and early blockchain adopters. He very frequently co-authors works with Gamelab scholars and alumni, and as a library scientist, will probably suggest you a few books related to any topic you’re currently writing about.

Niklas Nylund

Postdoctoral Researcher

Niklas Nylund is a museum researcher and curator working for the Finnish Museum of Games in Tampere, Finland. His PhD Game Heritage: Digital Games in Museum Collections and Exhibitions (2020) deals with the heritagization of games in museums and hobbyist heritage communities. His research interests include game preservation, game history, exhibition design and questions of cultural heritage and inclusivity.

Alumni

Diego A Mejía-Alandia

Visiting Researcher

Diego A Mejía-Alandia is a visiting postdoctoral researcher at Tampere University’s Centre of Excellence in Game Culture Studies. He studied literature, creative writing, and literary translation at the University of Seville (Spain). His research focuses on literature, cinema and their mutual adaptations and influences. He is particularly interested in the concept of nostalgia and its relationship with cultural/national memories and individual/collective identities as well as its ties with popular culture. Currently, he holds a two-year Margarita Salas grant from the European Union (NextGenerationEU) to work on an individual project on post-communist nostalgia in video games and digital experiences.

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2560-8026

Photos by Jonne Renvall, Tampere University, 2022–2023.