Ropecon 2026 Academic Seminar
Call for Papers
Important dates
Abstract deadline: May 15, 2026
Notification of acceptance: June 3, 2026
Paper deadline: July 10, 2026
Academic Seminar: July 24, 2026
Ropecon’s Academic Seminar is organized in cooperation with The Finnish Society for Game Research (Suomen pelitutkimuksen seura)
The topic of Ropecon 2026’s academic seminar, “Dreams,” reflects the theme of Ropecon 2026. In many ways, dreaming is what makes us human. Whether we talk about dreams we have when sleeping or our aspirations, dreams are a fundamental keystone to our being. Our dreams as academics – or the dreams of fictional characters we study. Or dreams driving narratives as thematic settings or narrative foci. How dreams affect games or games’ texts and paratexts, how they are used to construct or deconstruct the settings our games inhabit… We welcome all paper submissions by scholars of all levels, from younger scholars and PhD candidates to more established researchers. While we very much welcome papers that touch the theme of the seminar, all paper submissions are welcome!
The seminar focuses on working papers, and the aim is to provide gaming scholars with tools and peer-to-peer discussion for developing and refining their papers further. Every paper will be presented for 10 minutes and discussed for 20 minutes. The sessions will be open for all Academic Seminar ticket holders, but the presentations should be drafted with an academic audience in mind.
Some example ideas:
- Dream-based games – how dream focus can define a game, what it enables or how it restricts or limits game design
- Dreams as narrative foci – dream based narratives and storytelling
- Dream mechanics – dreams as psychological element vs. narratively “real” dimensions with dream-like physics
- Or any paper you have under work! No need to restrict yourself! The seminar is here for you!
Submission guidelines
The papers to be presented will be chosen based on extended abstract review. The abstracts should be a maximum of 500 words (plus references). Abstracts should be delivered in PDF format. In order to facilitate discussion, full papers are distributed prior to the event to all participants. Though the majority of the seminar and discussion will be in English, paper submissions are also accepted in Finnish. If accepted, these papers will need to be presented to the audience in English.
As per the main focus on Ropecon itself, the academic seminar accepts papers on inherently non-digital gaming: papers that discuss games, gaming, and the cultures around these on tabletop games, card games, miniature games are welcome, while papers discussing inherently digital games and gaming are not in the scope of this seminar.
The aim is that all participants can familiarize themselves with the papers in advance. Therefore, the maximum length for a full paper is 5000 words (plus references). The seminar presentations should encourage discussion instead of repeating the information presented in the papers.
Submissions should be sent to: academic.program@ropecon.fi