GamiFIN2026: Preliminary Conference Programme

Please note this programme is subject to changes 

DAY 0 — Monday, 23 March 2026

19:00 — Welcome Reception

Location: TBA 

Cozy, welcoming reception and opportunity for (self-paid) dinner to kick the conference off.

DAY 1 — Tuesday, 24 March 2026

Paper Sessions: Auditorium

Poster & Demo Sessions: Eurooppa 1 & Eurooppa 2

Lunch: Conference Hotel Restaurant

09:00–10:00

Registration and poster installation

10:00–10:15

Opening Address 

10:15–11:00 – Keynote 1

Prof. Dr. Georgios Yannakakis

University of Malta

11:00–11:15  Coffee Break

11:15–12:35 — Making and Measuring Play

Auditorium. Chair: Asst. Prof. Oz Buruk, Tampere University

• • Leveraging Large Language Models for Twitch Video Clip Understanding and Summarization. Jari Lindroos, Raine Koskimaa, Jaakko Peltonen, Tanja Välisalo, Ida Toivanen. (Research Article)
  • Leveling Up UX Methods: An Interactive Archive for UX Methodologies in Gameful Design. Simone Bassanelli, Enrico Bolognesi, Tommaso Ceccherini, Antonio Bucchiarone, Annapaola Marconi.  (Work-in-Progress)
  • Engineering the Technical Layer of Gamification. Johanna Virkki, Asif Shaikh. (Work-in-Progress)
  • From Gameful to Anti-Gameful: Exploring Opposing Design Logics. Asif Shaikh, S. M. Musfequr Rahman, Johanna Virkki. (Work-in-Progress)
  • Real-Time Assistance with AR HUD Screen in the Forest Harvester MachineHeli Kymäläinen, Borja García-Pascual, Carlos Martín-Cortés, Martino Rogai, Mari Selkimäki, Xin Zhou, Esteban Arboix, Mauricio Acuna, Blas Mola-Yudego. (Poster)
  • From Esports Teams to Military Tactical Level Communication: A Pilot Study of User Experiences of Dual-Use Smart Sleeve Technology. Mikko Salminen, Satu Jumisko-Pyykkö, Eveliina Toivonen, Brian Scotcher, Wilho Rönkä, Gert Hattingh, Roosa Lundström, Antti-Tuomas Pulkka. (Demo)
  • Designing a DEER-Toolkit: Enabling Educational Escape Rooms in a 2D Dungeon Crawler Game. André Matutat, Benjamin Franke, Hannes Rüffer, Niklas Schumann, Birgit Christina George, Carsten Gips. (Demo)
  • Can We Touch the Real in Virtual Reality? An Empirical Study of Multisensory Interaction. Shivang Gupta, Emma Jane Pretty, Zhenxing Li, Xinyi Yang, Juho Hamari, Nannan Xi. (Poster)
  • What Is Game-Like Mental Effort?: Affordance of Effort with Different Game Conditions. Shruti Agrawal, Girish Dalvi. (Work-in-Progress)

12:35–13:50 –  Lunch 

13:50–15:20 — Poster & Demo Session I

Eurooppa 1 & 2

15:20–16:15 — Playing with Systems and Decisions

Auditorium. Chair: Asst. Prof. Marc Riar. IÉSEG School of Management

• • Promoting Systems Thinking Competence for Sustainable Supply Chains Through Game-Based Learning. Ans Ahmad, Georgina Guillén, Ulla A. Saari, Liliane Carmagnac, Morgane Fritz, Ville-Veikko Uhlgren, Juho Hamari. (Work-in-Progress)
  • Learning Ethics at Work Through Play: An Experimental Study on Role-Playing Game. Galina Zvereva, Gong Qiao, Xinyan Zhao, Nannan Xi, Juho Hamari.  (Work-in-Progress)
  • Enhancing Consumer Decision-Making in AR Shopping: A Design Study on Augmented Product Information Presentation. Jakob J. Korbel, Marc Riar, Daniel Ignatenko, Markus Gottschalk, Rüdiger Zarnekow. (Work-in-Progress)
  • Effects of Gamification and Physiological Stress on Webstore Retention and Purchase Intentions. Jani Holopainen, Jyri Hoffrén. (Work-in-Progress)
  • Beetle Migration Game: Balancing Ecosystems as a More-than-Human Play Practice. Federico Bonetti, Linas Gabrielaitis, Simone Bassanelli, Fatin Hamid, Laura Cosio, Annapaola Marconi. (Work-in-Progress)
  • Demonstrating SIMAplay: A Serious Game for Forest Management Decision-Making Through Board Game and Digital Simulation. Arka Majhi, Daniel Fernández Galeote, Aaron Petty, Jari Vauhkonen, Timo Nummenmaa, Heli Peltola, Juho Hamari. (Demo)

16:15–16:30 Coffee Break

16:30–17:25 — Being There to Being (Not) Together

Auditorium. Chair: Asst. Prof. Jani Holopainen, University of Eastern Finland

• • Breaks in Presence: Assessing the Impact of Visualization Modes on User Experience in Extended Reality Fitness Applications. Sophia Elsholz, Jakob J. Korbel, Maya Hornschuh, Rüdiger Zarnekow.  (Research Article)
  • Affective-Relational Practices of Mirror-Dwelling in Social VR: A Processual Account. Mila Bujić, Mattia Thibault, Juho Hamari. (Research Article)
  • Breaking or Reinforcing Stereotypes? The Role of Expertise and Toxic Attitude in Live-Streaming Context. Sebastiano Accardi, Nannan Xi, Vincenzo Russo, Juho Hamari. (Work-in-Progress)
  • Designing Restorative VR Sports Experiences: Yoga in Virtual Nature. Tommi Kiianmies, Sofia Vierula, Jonna Häkkilä. (Demo)

19:00 — Community Building, Networking & Self-Paid Dinner

Location: TBA

DAY 2 — Wednesday, 25 March 2026

Doctoral Consortium: Auditorium

Workshops: Eurooppa 1 & Eurooppa 2

Lunch: Conference Hotel Restaurant

09:30-09:45 – Registration

10:00–13:00 — Morning Workshops and Doctoral Consortium

• • Doctoral Consortium — Auditorium
  • Workshop: Gamified and Game-Based Approaches to Resilient Workforce and Successful Ageing — Eurooppa 1
  • Workshop: From Prompts to Play: Creating Game Narratives with Large Language Models — Eurooppa 2

13:00 – 14:15 Lunch

DAY 3 — Thursday, 26 March 2026

Panel and Paper Sessions: Auditorium

Poster & Demo Sessions: Eurooppa 1 & Eurooppa 2

Lunch: Conference Hotel Restaurant

09:30–10:00 Registration

10:00–11:15  — Fireplace Panel Discussion

Auditorium

Moderator: Associate Professor Nannan Xi

Panelists:

• • Prof. Georgios Yannakakis (University of Malta)
  • Dr. Jonna Koivisto (Gamification and Games Research Consultant)
  • Prof. Kristian Killi  (Tampere University)
  • Prof. Juho Hamari (Tampere University)

13:15–14:25 — Game-Based Learning

• • How Game Elements Structure Educational Learning Paths: A Literature Review. Lorenzo Zambotto, Simone Bassanelli, Federico Manzoni, Antonio Bucchiarone, Annapaola Marconi. (Research Article)
  • Quiz Traveller: A Crowdsourced Educational Game on Chat-Based Interactive Live-Streaming Platforms. Yunfei Wang, Lei Shi, Xin Shu, Marci Chi Ma, Wilk Oliveira, Ahmed Kharrufa. (Research Article)
  • Exploring Minimal Narrative Frames in Gamified Learning: A Pilot Study on Narrative Transportation and Flow. Eva Boehlke, Stefan E. Huber, Kristian Kiili, Manuel Ninaus. (Work-in-Progress)
  • Designing Workshops to Bridge Visual and Textual Programming: A Narrative Game Approach. André Matutat, Benjamin Franke, Niklas Schumann, Birgit Christina George, Jörg-Michael Keuntje, Carsten Gips. (Work-in-Progress)
  • How Gamified Prompts for Metacognitive Reflection Affect the Perceived Playfulness of Learning: A Work-in-progress Study. Annique Smith, Daniel Fernández Galeote, Nikoletta Zampeta Legaki, Juho Hamari. (Work-in-Progress)

14:25 – 15:15  — Coffee Break

Eurooppa 1 & 2

15:15 – 17:15 — Paper Development Workshop 

18:00 — Community Networking & Self-Paid Dinner

Location: TBA

DAY 4 — Friday, 27 March 2026

All Sessions: Auditorium

10:00–10:45 — Keynote 2

Dr. Jonna Koivisto

Gamification and Games Research Consultant

10:45–11:00 – Coffee Break

11:00–12:10 — Making Places, Making Meaning

Auditorium. Chair: Prof. Juho Hamari, Tampere University

• • Playful, Meaningful – or Both? A Review of the Current State of Digital Participatory Tools for Urban Planning. Luma Fonseca Alves, Manuel F. Baer, Samuli Laato, Carolin Klonner, Nora Fagerholm. (Research Article)
  • City in Play: Conceptual Synergies Between Generative AI and Extended Reality for Urban Play. Nima Sharafi Rohani, Vincenzo Idone Cassone, Mattia Thibault. (Research Article)
  • Reflective Design of the Heritage Computer Game Les lumières de Val-Jalbert Using Culturally Significant Presence. Dave Hawey, Yannick Francillette, Alexandra Ferland-Beauchemin, Guillaume Côté, Gabrielle Leclerc-Bouchard.  (Work-in-Progress)
  • Memory Lane: MAR for Location-Based Memory Preservation and Cultural Heritage Engagement. Ruchira Prageeth Amarasinghe Karunapedi Durayalage, Janset Shawash, Mattia Thibault. (Demo)
  • HereSay: Gamifying Urban Crowdsourcing Through Affordance-Based Data Collection. Manuel F. Baer, Luma Fonseca Alves, Samuli Laato. (Demo)

12:10–12:20 – Voting Session

12:20–13:25 – Lunch 

13:25–14:00 – Closing Ceremony

14:00–19:00 — Facilitated Downhill Skiing Activity (Optional, Self-Paid)

Informal, facilitated group skiing for interested participants.

Participation is voluntary, at own accord, and all costs are self-paid.

19:00 — Farewell Networking & Optional Self-Paid Dinner

Location: TBA