Call for Papers:

Games, Value, and Meaning
An issue of the Well Played Journal
https://playstorypress.org/2026/06/15/well-played-journal-cfp-games-value-and-meaning/

Deadline for submissions: September 30, 2026

This is an open call for essays that explore the playing experience of games—digital, tabletop, mixed reality, larp, playable theatre, interactive narratives, etc. All submissions for this issue of the Well Played Journal are due on 30 September, 2026.

All submissions and questions should be sent to:
wellplayed (at) playstorypress (dot) org

The Well Played Journal is a forum for in-depth close readings of games that parse out the various meanings to be found in the experience of playing a game. It is a reviewed journal open to submissions that will be released on a regular basis with high-quality essays.

Contributors are encouraged to look at games through all three senses of “well played,” analyzing sequences in a game in detail in order to illustrate and interpret how the various components of a game can come together to create a fulfilling playing experience unique to this medium. Through contributors, the journal will provide a variety of perspectives on the value of games.

The goal of the journal is to continue developing and defining a literacy of games as well as a sense of their value as an experience. Contributors are invited to also discuss games in general (ranging from tabletop, to big games and more) and how they are often designed for different fields (education, entertainment, etc.) as we more fully develop a literacy around games and play. Contributors are encouraged to consider using screenshots and video of their gameplay in order to help illustrate their ideas. And we’re open to suggestions on themed issues around a specific game or a topic across games.

Games are a complex medium that merits careful interpretation and insightful analysis. By inviting contributors to look closely at games and the experience of playing them, we hope to expand the discussion, and show how games are well played in a variety of ways.

Play Story Press™ playstorypress.org is an open community publishing consortium of/by/for the field and our community. It is a diamond open-access academic publishing initiative in which contributors retain all their intellectual property. We work with our contributors in as timely a manner as possible so that we can share ideas that have impact and significance in our society.