Hello! I am excited to announce the upcoming publication of a new book, *Learning, Education and Games (Volume One): Curricular and Design Considerations <http://legbookseries.wordpress.com/>*, which we’ll be celebrating with a book launch party and panel! Members of the Learning, Education and Games (LEG) special interest group (SIG) of the IGDA <http://www.igda.org/> (International Game Developers Association) have written, reviewed, and edited this new book series. The first volume explores the latest research and practices in designing games for a variety of curricular needs–-including STEM, literacy learning, history education, and computational, ethical, and critical thinking. The book also delves into design issues–-such as aligning goals, designing for an audience, *playtesting*, and assessment. The first book in the book series will be published by ETC Press in early October 2014, and will be available for *free* to download or via print on demand through lulu.com. You are all invited to attend the *Learning, Education and Games Book Launch & Panel <http://www.meetup.com/Game-Based-Learning-NYC/events/208156182/> event* taking place on *Thursday, October 9th* at *NYU Game Center at 6:30 pm*. The panel is being co-organized by the GBLNYC (Game-Based Learning NYC) meetup group. Feel free to RSVP for the event through their meetup.com site ( http://www.meetup.com/Game-Based-Learning-NYC/events/208156182/). The event's panel will feature authors from the book, who will deliberate some of the big questions in educational games, as well as discuss the latest research and design practices. The panel consists of: - *Elena Bertozzi, Quinnipiac University* *(Author of chapter “Using Games to Teach, Practice, and Encourage Interest in STEM Subjects”)* - *Ethan Hein, NYU* *(Author of chapter “Music Games in Education”)* - *Gabriela Richard, University of Pennsylvania* *(Author of chapter “Designing for the Audience and Inclusive Considerations”)* The panel will be moderated by me, *Karen Schrier, *the editor of the book series. I hope that you will join us to celebrate! Have a great weekend! Take care, Karen http://legbookseries.wordpress.com/ www.igda.org/leg