The Games As Art Festival 2026 will have 17 expert commentators offering their perspectives on each game to inspire discourse on games as an intentional aesthetic medium. These experts come from a wide array of backgrounds from academia, the games industry, and artistic practice.
Experienced Narrative Designer/Screenwriter Specialist with a demonstrated history of working in the computer software industry. She also has an extensive history in nordic-style larp.
Commentating: Base Notes, Creating New Worlds, Split Second
Jaakko Stenros (PhD) is a game and play researcher at the Game Research Lab (University of Tampere). He has published five books and over 50 articles and reports and has taught game studies and internet studies for almost a decade
Commentating: Clio, The Life of a Moth, The Finnish Coffee Ceremony
Jamie Harper is a play researcher, game designer and performance-maker. He is a postdoctoral researcher at the Game Research Lab at Tampere University, working at the intersections of performance, games and fine art.
Commentating: Rhizome: Becoming, Inner Domain, Superrealism,
Jussi Koitela is executive director of M-Cult and Programme Manager of Frame Contemporary Art Finland. He has curated and produced numerous exhibitions and public programs both in Finland and internationally
Commentating: Where Love Happens
is a doctoral researcher at Tampere University, who explores how people experiment with augmentation technologies in playful and creative ways.
Commentating: Breaking the Fourth Wall
Essi Taino is a doctoral researcher at Tampere University and a youth worker and community builder. She has over a decade of professional experience in game literacy education and organizing gaming related activities.
Comentating: Art/Larp/Art
Julián Gutiérrez Carrera is a doctoral researcher at Tampere University’s Game Research Lab. He is writing his dissertation on representations of suicide in computer games. His work also analyses jokes and alibi for serious commentary.
Commentating: Maybe there are some minor problems with capitalism
Chris has spent 20+ years in the tabletop and video game industries, mostly designing narratives and economies for free-to-play games. He’s indie now because he likes fun more than money.
Commentating: Joy and Connection
Mark Maletska (he/him) is a Doctoral Researcher at Tampere University, Finland, whose research interests lie in queer/trans game studies, with emphasis on differences in perception of queerness and queer lives.
is an Academy Research Fellow at Tampere University with the title of Docent (habilitation) in Contemporary Culture Studies.
Commentating: Anti-Nostalgic Histories
Swapnesh Samaiya designs games, playful Interaction and learning experiences. He teaches Game and Interaction design at the national institute of design in India as a faculty member.
Commentating: Using AI as a Mirror, W.A.I.T., Video Games, Society, and Story
is an Associate Professor of Gameful Experience in Research Centre of Gameful Realities at Tampere University. My field of study is “novel interaction techniques in games.”
Commentating: Nightmares in Fantastical Worlds
is a postdoctoral research fellow within the Research Centre of Gameful Realities at Tampere University, Finland. He is also on the board of directors for the Games As Art Center.
Commentating: Touching Grass and Blowing Up Pipelines , In the Garden
is a designer at Next Games with an industry background in narrative design and puzzle design.
Commentating: Touching Grass and Blowing Up Pipelines
is a cultural event organizer and board game host who has organized intercultural events in Tampere since 2023 and previously curated performing arts seasons for audiences across China.
Commentating: Touching Grass and Blowing Up Pipelines
Junior Game Designer at Iceflake Studios. Arttu has experience as test automation programmer, website developer, and master’s in game studies from Tamper University.
Commentating: Touching Grass and Blowing Up Pipelines
Junior UI Designer at Iceflake Studios. Venni is a UI designer with skills in UI/UX creation, as well as 2D graphics/animations and game design.
Commentating: Using AI as a Mirror
is a Helsinki-based new media artist and doctoral researcher at Tampere University, working at the intersection of real-time AI, embodied interaction, and machine perception.
Commentating: Using AI as a Mirror
President & CEO of 10tons, extensive history in the games industry from both business and game development perspective. Shipped over 20 titles for PC, Mac, and mobile platforms.
Commentating: Using AI as a Mirror