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 7/7/23

Research

  • Continuing working on supporting PlayOn! partners with their new immersive theatre productions. The next cycle of productions is under development with some really cool projects on the way.
  • Several PlayOn productions, including Áruló, were presented at the Theatre Olympics in Budapest in late May 2023.
  • Recently returned from a trip to Norway visiting with Teatret Vårt in Molde, and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in Ålesund.
  • Worked with director György Vidovszky and Kolibri Szinhaz on Áruló (Traitor), which opened in October 22 in Budapest. The production is part of the repertoire and is shown regularly.
  • Oliver Bates and I have printed lots of copies of MEAL DEAL, related to Switch Gig and the sister project Flip Gig. This is a part of a range of critical design artefaces about cycle delivery under the banner "Crank & File"

Teaching

  • I am Training Coordinator in York for the IGGI doctoral training centre, and am teaching the Game Design modules in 23/24.
  • In undergraduate, I am leading the Individual Project module for year 3 Interactive Media students for Semester 1, 2023/24.

Other

  • Playing and enjoying the Sam & Max Telltale series (my daughter enjoys point-and-click adventures and there are loads to share!), Shapez, Factorio, Spider-man,
  • Wanting to play more Viticulture Continents, Frosthaven, and John Company.
  • 10x10 for 2022 was Abandon all Artichokes, Aeon's End, Five Parsecs from Home, Hornet Leader: CAO, Railroad Ink, Railways of the World, Roll for the Galaxy, Spruance Leader, Warfighter WWII, Zero Leader.
  • 10x10 years (Games from 2012) was Among the Stars, Archipelago, A Fake Artist Goes to New York(*), Love Letter, Lucky Numbers, Qwixx, Snowdonia(*), Tea Time, and Trains. Asterisks are ones that aged well. Fake Artist is still the best social deduction game.
  • Still feeling like I should do some kind of reflection on all the football stuff at some point - I have read dozens of football books over the past 3 years, and played so many different games of all genre and platform. For now, one strong book recommendation is The Miracle of Castel di Sangro by Joe McGinniss (1999). It is a wild book, the tale is incredible, but also the author's behaviour gets increasingly bizarre as the story develops (the author has history). Also fun to search up the main figures after reading.