CFP: Game Studies Special Issues on Game Reward Systems Guest editors Mikael Jakobsson (mikael.jakobsson@mah.se) and Olli Sotamaa (olli.sotamaa@uta.fi). Digital games have a long history of rewarding players for their efforts. It can be in the form of treasures, items, easter eggs, highscores, character outfits, achievements, or badges. The prolific use of rewards indicates that they play an important part in shaping the gaming experience. On one hand, it seems obvious that we enjoy being rewarded, but on the other hand, it is harder to understand the fascination with these seemingly empty gestures, given their virtual nature. This special issue of Game Studies is dedicated to the exploration of all aspects of game rewards and game reward systems. We invite our potential authors to think about the topic in relation to game culture as well as game design, but also hope to attract papers exploring connections to other areas of research such as psychology, sociology, economy, education, and law. Possible topics include, but are not limited to: - Means for approaching and understanding game reward systems - Reward typologies: characteristics and qualities - The role of reward systems in relation to other game mechanics - Player motivations in relation to game achievements - History of reward systems within game culture and beyond - Reward systems in social media applications - Understanding rewards as motivators The call is for full papers in English. All submissions will undergo a double blind peer review process and be reviewed by at least two reviewers. Papers should be submitted to submit@gamestudies.com. Please see the Game Studies submission guidelines for further details: http://gamestudies.org/1001/submission_guidelines Timeline Submission deadline: 15th of August 2010 Publication: November - December 2010 About Game Studies Our Mission - To explore the rich cultural genre of games; to give scholars a peer-reviewed forum for their ideas and theories; to provide an academic channel for the ongoing discussions on games and gaming. Game Studies is a crossdisciplinary journal dedicated to games research, web-published several times a year at www.gamestudies.org. Our primary focus is aesthetic, cultural and communicative aspects of computer games, but any previously unpublished article focused on games and gaming is welcome. Proposed articles should be jargon-free, and should attempt to shed new light on games, rather than simply use games as metaphor or illustration of some other theory or phenomenon. Please help us spread the call to anyone you think might be interested. It is also available on the web at: http://gamestudies.org/1001/articles/cfp_game_reward_systems