A COLLABORATION OF THE LOGAN CENTER & MADD CENTER
The Weston Game Lab (WGL) is where students, faculty, and staff collaborate on the research and development of games—digital, board, card, or alternate reality—that produce social impact or experiment with form. Home to classes offered by Cinema and Media Studies Media Arts and Design (MAAD) program, the work of students and student groups including UChicago Game Design (UGD), and partnerships with faculty led projects including Fourcast Lab.
Established through a gift from Dr. Shellwyn Weston and Bradford Weston, JD’77, and directed by Patrick Jagoda, Associate Professor of English and Cinema & Media Studies, WGL opened in February 2019 as an integral part of the Media Arts, Data, and Design (MADD) Center on the first floor of the John Crerar Library. Participants also research the history of games from technical and theoretical perspectives, attend workshops that afford new development skills, and organize collaborative groups for game-based experiments.
Location
The MADD Center Arts Labs—Hack Arts Lab (HAL) and Weston Game Lab (WGL)—are managed by staff of the Logan Center for the Arts and located at the MADD Center in John Crerar Library, 1st Floor, 5730 S Ellis Ave, Chicago, IL 60637. Learn more about the MADD Center here >>
WGL’s work focuses on social impact gaming that entertains while addressing real-world problems, from climate change to public health, immersing players in vibrant, complex environments through storytelling, music, and design.
WGL / The Art and Design of Video Games
WGL / Designing alternate realities
Games / From the Great Books to Minecraft: How Games Can Help Us Change the World with Patrick Jagoda and Ashlyn Sparrow
Explore Weston Game Lab and Ways to Get Involved
Fourcast Lab A partner project of the Weston Game Lab, Fourcast Lab is a transmedia design collective that creates Alternate Reality Games (ARGs), pervasive games, cross-platform stories, and networked performances. Explore >>
MAAD EXPO 2023 explored the substantial impact media arts and design have on the ways we learn, work, play, think, act, and communicate. Explore >>
Slandercast Studio is an indie game development studio incubated at WGL and run by three UChicago students: Isaac Berman, Bruno Pasquinelli, and Eren Slifker. Explore >>
At Winter’s End is a cozy narrative dice-rolling RPG about 12-year-old Noel growing up in the forest of spirits. Explore the forest and complete quests while rolling dice to see how Noel responds to the challenges they face. Explore on Steam >>
MAAD Major Video game design, transmedia puzzle development, digital filmmaking, electronic sound design, digital storytelling, algorithmic theater, podcast development, data visualization, computational imaging, speculative design, and media history and theory. Explore >>
Careers in Gaming prepares students for successful careers in game design, UX/UI research, programming, writing, production, and so much more. The program welcomes students of all majors and class years. Explore >>
Get Access Weston Game Lab classes, trainings, and workshops are now facilitated via the MADD Center Canvas course. Self-enrollment in the Canvas course is available here >>
Introduction to Game Design Blog contains game reviews, process studies, and other musings from faculty, instructors, and students in the MAAD Major’s Introduction to Game Design course. Explore >>
WGL In the News
