Ben Kirman

.plan

This page is an intermittently updated summary of what I'm currently up to, and where my efforts are currently directed. It is based on Now pages, and the .plan files from back in the day. It is not meant to be a complete summary, just a little note.

Last updated 13/1/25

Research

  • Last year was a huge one for PlayOn!. The project concluded in October 2024 but it was a really busy time working with partners across Europe and making a load of cool stuff I can't wait to share. The job now is to convert all those notebooks, photographs and interviews into a useful format for sharing. This has proved a massive task and is going to take a while to unpick. There were 33 shows, 9 countries, and thousands of audience members.
  • In the meantime I attended British DiGRA in Birmingham in May 2025, which was really a blast. Oliver and I talked about Research through Game Design, Meal Deal, Tea towels and shared a zine we made.
  • I also got to visit A MAZE in Berlin, which was similarly inspirational, fun and weird in a good way. I didn't present so could just absorb it all, between meetings with various Berlin colleagues.

Teaching

  • I am Training Coordinator in York for the IGGI doctoral training centre.
  • In undergraduate, I was teaching Mobile Interaction, and will be supervising students in the Individual Project module for year 3 Interactive Media students for Semester 2, 2025/26.

Other

  • Still playing a lot of boardgames and setting myself challenges each year. The 10x10 (10 games played 10 times each) for 2025 were: Aeon's End, Dorfromantik, Down in Flams: Locked On, Flash Point: Legacy of Flame, Forgotten Ruin, Imperium, Sea Wolves Solitaire, Stuka Leader, Tiger Leader, Warfighter.
  • 10x10 years (10 Games from 2015) were 7 Wonders Duel(*), Baseball Highlights: 2045(*), Deep Space D6, Hostage Negotiator, Monikers(*), Potion Explosion, Spinderella, Tiger Leader(*), Tiny Epic Galaxies(*), and Viticulture Essential Edition(*). Asterisks are ones that aged well. 2015 was another good year for games!
  • In 2025 also learned 90 new board/card games, and played 193 different games, with 45 different people, a total of 400 times.