Bibliography

This document collates recommended scholarly publications from different PLaY workshops relating to play and games in learning, research and public engagement. It may form the basis of a reading list for academic study, or sources to consult for specific projects and write-ups. The list is updated when new resources are brought to our attention.

General Play ‘Classics’

Bogost, I. (2016). Play Anything: The Pleasure of Limits, the Uses of Boredom, and the Secret of Games. New York: Basic Books.

Caillois, R.[original 1958] (transl. Barash, M 1961) Man, Play and Games. 2001 edition, University of Illinois Press

De Koven, B.(2013). The well-played game: a player’s philosophy. MIT Press.

Flanagan, M. (2009). Critical play: radical game design, MIT Press

Huizinga, J. (1949). Homo Ludens: A study of the play-element in culture. 2016 edition. Angelico Press.

Sicart, M. (2014). Play Matters. MIT Press.

Sutton-Smith, B. (1997).The ambiguity of play , Cambridge, MA : Harvard University Press .

Winnicott, D. W. (1991). Playing and reality. Psychology Press.

Play to Learn

Adult Learning 

Baruch, Y. (2006). Role-play teaching: Acting in the classroom. Management Learning, 37(1), 43–61. https://doi.org/10.1177/1350507606060980 

Bergmann, R., & Erlandsen, S. B. (2026). Disrupting the cynical distance: what management educators can learn from participatory art. In The Elgar Companion to Management Education and the Sustainable Development Goals (pp. 577–585). Edward Elgar Publishing. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781035337170.00074 

Boeker, M., Andel, P., Vach, W., & Frankenschmidt, A. (2013). Game-Based E-Learning Is More Effective than a Conventional Instructional Method: A Randomized Controlled Trial with Third-Year Medical Students. PLoS ONE, 8(12), e82328. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0082328

Calza-Perez, M., Martínez-Climent, C., Rey-Martí, A., & Sánchez-García, J. (2025). Seriously Playful Business: Game-Based Learning at Work. International Journal of Serious Games, 12(4), 31–48. https://doi.org/10.17083/bbjfaa40 

Desrochers, M. N., Pusateri, M. J., & Fink, H. C. (2007). Game assessment: fun as well as effective. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 32(5), 527–539. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602930601116789 

de Gloria, A., Bellotti, F., & Berta, R. (2014). Serious Games for education and training. International Journal of Serious Games, 1(1). https://doi.org/10.17083/ijsg.v1i1.11 

Fernández-Raga, M., Aleksić, D., İkiz, A. K., Markiewicz, M., & Streit, H. (2023). Development of a Comprehensive Process for Introducing Game-Based Learning in Higher Education for Lecturers. Sustainability, 15(4), 1-18. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15043706 

Kinder, T., Stenvall, J., & Memon, A. (2019). Play at work, learning and innovation. Public Management Review, 21(3), 376–399. https://doi.org/10.1080/14719037.2018.1487578  

Koeners, M. P., & Francis, J. (2020). The physiology of play: potential relevance for higher education. International Journal of Play, 9(1), 143–159. https://doi.org/10.1080/21594937.2020.1720128

Kolb, A. Y., & Kolb, D. A. (2010). Learning to play, playing to learn: A case study of a ludic learning space. Journal of organizational change management, 23(1), 26-50. https://doi.org/10.1108/09534811011017199 

Laine, T. H., & Lindberg, R. S. N. (2020). Designing Engaging Games for Education: A Systematic Literature Review on Game Motivators and Design Principles. IEEE Transactions on Learning Technologies, 13(4), 804–821. https://doi.org/10.1109/TLT.2020.3018503 

Lameras, P., Arnab, S., Dunwell, I., Stewart, C., Clarke, S., & Petridis, P. (2017). Essential features of serious games design in higher education: Linking learning attributes to game mechanics. British journal of educational technology, 48(4), 972-994. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjet.12467 

Lean, J., Moizer, J., Towler, M., & Abbey, C. (2006). Simulations and games: Use and barriers in higher education. Active Learning in Higher Education, 7(3), 227–242. https://doi.org/10.1177/1469787406069056 

Leather, M., Harper, N., & Obee, P. (2021). A pedagogy of play: Reasons to be playful in postsecondary education. Journal of Experiential Education, 44(3), 208-226.         https://journals.sagepub.com/home/jee

Montagu-Cairns, S. (2025). Game based learning in legal education. In Elgar Concise Encyclopedia of Legal Education (pp. 179-181). Edward Elgar Publishing.

Moseley, A., & Nørgård, R. T. (2021). Designs for Playful Learning: An Editorial. The Journal of Play in Adulthood, 3(2). https://doi.org/10.5920/jpa.970 

Pearce, G., & Sutton-Brady, C. (2003). International Business Theatre (IBT): An alternative evaluation method for enhancing student learning in international marketing. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 28(1), 3–15. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602930301686 

Reed, JM. (2020) Gaming in Nursing Education: Recent Trends and Future Paths. Journal of Nursing Education. 59(7):375-381. https://doi.org/10.3928/01484834-20200617-04 

Samuelsson, R. (2026). The counterintuitive potentials of play for learning in higher education. Innovations in Education and Teaching International, 63(3), 936–940. https://doi.org/10.1080/14703297.2025.2515156  

Scharp, Y. S., Bakker, A. B., Breevaart, K., Kruup, K., & Uusberg, A. (2023). Playful work design: Conceptualization, measurement, and validity. Human Relations, 76(4), 509–550. https://doi.org/10.1177/00187267211070996

Tomczyk, D., & Teckchandani, A. (2025). Using gamification strategies to create effective experiential exercises. Management Teaching Review, 10(1), 43-60. https://doi.org/10.1177/23792981231190590 

Whitton, N. (2018). Playful learning: Tools, techniques, and tactics. Research in Learning Technology, 26. https://doi.org/10.25304/rlt.v26.2035 

Whitton, N., & Moseley, A. (2019). Playful Learning Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351021869 

Children’s Learning (limited sources)

Samuelsson, I. P., & Carlsson, M. A. (2008). The playing learning child: Towards a pedagogy of early childhood. Scandinavian journal of educational research, 52(6), 623-641. 

Winnicott, D. W. (1991). Playing and reality. Psychology Press. 

Play to Discover

James, A. (2021). Play in Research? Yes it is “proper” practice. Journal of Play in Adulthood, 3(1), 9–30. https://www.journalofplayinadulthood.org.uk/article/864/galley/709/view/ 

Watkins, D. & Moseley, A., (2022) “Envisioning research through a lens of play”, The Journal of Play in Adulthood 4(1), 52-71. https://doi.org/10.5920/jpa.997

Humanities

Bartley, I. (2025). It’s not just a game: playing selected modern board games as a decolonising tool in museums through participatory action research. International Journal of Heritage Studies, 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/13527258.2025.2557835 

Germaine, C., & Wake, P. (2025). Curious Games: Game Making, Hacking and Jamming as Critical Practice. Behavioral Sciences, 15(10), 1415. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs15101415 

Morgan, J., & Castle, S. (2024). Arts–Research Collaboration: Reflections on Collaboration as Creative Method. Qualitative Inquiry, 30(3–4), 291–300. https://doi.org/10.1177/10778004231176280 

Reason, M. (2022). Playful research. In Impacting theatre audiences (pp. 203-214). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781032214146 

Sciences

University of Edinburgh Play-Kit https://doi.org/10.7488/era/7224

Castro-Sánchez, E. (2026). Creative and arts-based methods: Drama, collages, and games: Reimagining antimicrobial resistance through creative methods. In The Routledge Handbook of Health and Environmental Humanities (pp. 179-196). Routledge. 

Grogan, P.T. and Meijer, S.A. (2017), Gaming Methods in Engineering Systems Research. Systems Engineering, 20: 542-552. https://doi.org/10.1002/sys.21409   

Horn, A., Van Der Meij, M. G., Willems, W. L., Kupper, F., & Zweekhorst, M. B. (2022). Developing interdisciplinary consciousness for sustainability: using playful frame reflection to challenge disciplinary bias. Sustainability: Science, Practice and Policy, 18(1), 515-530. https://doi.org/10.1080/15487733.2022.2095780 

Freese, M., Lukosch, H., Wegener, J., & König, A. (2020). Serious games as research instruments–Do’s and don’ts from a cross-case-analysis in transportation. European Journal of Transport and Infrastructure Research, 20(4), 103-126. https://doi.org/10.18757/ejtir.2020.20.4.4205 

Valero, D. E., McKeon, C. R., Bussière, L., Corniani, N., Colmenarez, Y. C., Hodgson, I., … & Bunnefeld, N. (2025). A Practical Approach to Developing and Using Online Games for Transdisciplinary Research into Complex Social-Ecological Systems. Society & Natural Resources, 38(5), 516-539. https://doi.org/10.1080/08941920.2025.2456938 

Social Sciences

Henderson, H., Shipway, R., & Jones, I. (2025). Constructing Insights: Exploring the Position of Lego® Serious Play® Within the Landscape of Creative and Participatory Research Methodologies. Qualitative Inquiry, https://doi.org/10.1177/10778004251401846 

Horppu, J. (2025). Imagination workshops as a creative method for exploring the sociomaterial dimensions of privacy. Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal, 28(2), 293–312. https://doi.org/10.1108/QMR-04-2024-0058 

Kara, H. (2020). Arts-based and embodied data gathering. In Creative Research Methods (pp. 101-118). Bristol University Press. 

Knoetze, F. W. M. (2025). Developing the Integrated Analysis Matrix (I-AM): A Data-Minding Approach for Better Ludonarrative Design-Based Research in Education. International Journal of Qualitative Methods , 24. https://doi.org/10.1177/16094069251390161

Kolb, A. Y., & Kolb, D. A. (2010). Learning to play, playing to learn: A case study of a ludic learning space. Journal of organizational change management, 23(1), 26-50. https://doi.org/10.1108/09534811011017199 

Martinez Sainz, G., Gleasure, S., Moore, B., Crummy, A., Vazquez Martinez, O. N., Sloan, S., Ioannidou, O., Symonds, J., & Devine, D. (2026). ‘A School Day’ Board Game: A Play-Based Method to Explore Children’s Experiences of Their School Lives. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 25. https://doi.org/10.1177/160940692614298  

Sadati, S. M. H., & Mitchell, C. (2021). Serious Game Design as Research-Creation to Address Sexual and Gender-Based Violence. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 20.https://doi.org/10.1177/1609406921104613 

Play for Impact

Ferrer-Conill, R., Foxman, M., Jones, J., Sihvonen, T., & Siitonen, M. (2020). Playful approaches to news engagement. Convergence, 26(3), 457-469. https://doi.org/10.1177/1354856520923964 

Fernández-Castrillo C. y López-Varela A. (2024). Intermedial participatory culture: ludification and gamification for sustainable development. Arte, Individuo y Sociedad, 36(4), 779-788. https://doi.org/10.5209/aris.92679

Grace, L. (2019). Doing things with games: Social impact through play. CRC Press. 

Mehnert, W., Bernstein, M.J., Umbrello, S. et al. (2026). Ethical playgrounds: unveiling a serious game for technology ethics within the TechEthos project. Humanities and Social Science Communications 13, 484 https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-026-06645-x   

Monechi, B., Ubaldi, E., Gravino, P., Chabay, I., & Loreto, V. (2021). Finding successful strategies in a complex urban sustainability game. Scientific Reports, 11(1), 15765. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-95199-w