FDG 2012, the International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games, is a focal point for academic efforts in all areas of research and education involving games, game technologies, gameplay, and game design. The goal of the conference is the advancement of the study of digital games, including new game technologies, capabilities, designs, applications, educational uses, and modes of play.

We invite researchers and educators to submit to FDG 2012 and share insights and cutting-edge research related to game technologies and their use. FDG 2012 will include presentations of peer-reviewed papers, invited talks by high-profile industry and academic leaders, panels, and posters. The conference will also host an interactive game demo session as well as Doctoral Consortium sessions. The Doctoral Consortium serves as a forum for young researchers and graduate students to present their work, exchange experiences with peers, discuss ideas for future research and receive feedback from established games researchers and the wider FDG community. The game festival event will showcase the latest experimental and research games and game technology created by university students and academic or industrial research groups. In addition, the conference organizers invite workshop proposals. Workshops are full-day and half-day sessions focused on emerging game topics, particularly those that bridge different communities.

Submission type:


Full Papers with a maximum length of 8 pages.
Posters with a maximum length of 2 pages
Doctoral Consortium with a maximum of 3 pages (extended abstract)
Demos with a maximum length of 2 pages
Workshops with a maximum length of 2-page abstract
Panel with a maximum length of 2-page abstract

Submission Tracks:

Authors should submit to either general conference or to one of the following tracks:

Game Studies (studying games, players, and their role in society and culture)
Game design (methods, techniques, studies)
Serious games (building and evaluating games for a purpose; learning in games)
Games education (preparing students to design and develop games)
Artificial Intelligence (agents, motion and camera planning, navigation, adaptivity, dialog)
Game development (tools, frameworks, networking, databases)
Graphics and Interaction (rendering, modeling, animation, understanding players and interfaces, interaction techniques)
Panels (all areas)

All submissions will be rigorously peer reviewed for their scholarly merit, significance, novelty, clarity and relevance to the advancement of the study and creation of games. All full papers must describe a completed unit of work and show rigorous and compelling evaluation of the ideas they present. Poster should describe novel work in progress that is not at the same level of research maturity as a full submission. Workshops should engage informal discussion around emerging area.

Papers and Panel Submissions

Papers and panels must be submitted by 11:59PM HST on December 19, 2011. Papers must not exceed eight pages and panel submissions must not exceed two pages. All submissions must comply with the official ACM proceedings format using one of the templates provided at http://www.acm.org/sigs/pubs/proceed/template.html. Submissions must not have been published previously. In addition, a submission identical or substantially similar in content (in its entirety or in part) to one submitted to FDG should not be simultaneously under consideration at another conference or journal during the entire FDG review process (from the submission deadline until notifications of decisions are emailed to authors).


Demos and Poster Submissions

FDG 2012 will include an interactive technical and game demos and Poster event to showcase the latest tools, systems, and games created by university students and academic or industrial research groups. Demos and Poster submissions will be accepted until 11:59PM HST on March 12, 2012.

Research and Experimental Games Festival Submissions

The Festival is designed to showcase games that are experimental or have a research component: including technological components that represent research advancements, or games that are designed to answer a research question or experiment with the design process. Submissions should include a link to the game as well as a 2-4 page writeup of the project, addressing how the game is innovative and how successfully the game fulfilled the goals of the developer.