Part of Let’s Play: A Three-Part Series on Tabletop Gaming and Social Change

ADMISSION:
Admission is free. RSVP beginning Monday, January 5, 2026, at 10 a.m.

DESCRIPTION:
Explore how tabletop games can reshape culture and challenge the status quo in a dynamic panel featuring leaders in game design, storytelling, and activism. In a conversation moderated by USC Game Innovation Lab director Tracy Fullerton, award-winning inventor Mary Jo (MJ) Reutter, narrative designer and screenwriter Lauren Bello, and scholar-artist Mary Flanagan will discuss games that confront inequality, critique dominant narratives, and inspire social change—showing how play is not just entertainment but can be a transformative experience as well.

This event is part of Let’s Play, a three-part series exploring how tabletop games can inspire social change. Related events include a game day with fifteen stations and an exhibition highlighting games and the power of play to educate, connect, and transform.

Bios:

Lauren Bello is a game designer and Nebula-nominated writer known for her innovative approach to interactive storytelling. She is the creator of The Morrison Game Factory, a critically acclaimed tabletop puzzle game that blends escape-room mechanics, interactive fiction, and immersive theater. With a deep passion for game design, she explores how narrative and mechanics intertwine to create engaging and thought-provoking experiences. In addition to her work in games, she has contributed to television series such as Foundation (Apple TV+) and The Sandman (Netflix), bringing her expertise in storytelling to multiple mediums.

Mary Flanagan is an interdisciplinary thinker and maker at the crossroads of art and technology. She has written or edited six books and works across genres including academic writing, poetry, fiction, product design, creative studio practice, and journalism for Salon, USA Today, Huffington Post, the San Francisco Chronicle, and Gamasutra. Her book Critical Play is standard-issue reading for those interested in, or studying, computer games and establishes the link between art history and contemporary game design. Flanagan’s writing about art, technology, feminism, and play is widely recognized. Her recent book, Playing Oppression: The Legacy of Conquest and Empire in Board Games, critiques board games’ roots in imperialist ideologies while exploring how modern designers can subvert these patterns. Flanagan is the Sherman Fairchild Distinguished Professor of Digital Humanities at Dartmouth College. She holds a PhD from Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London, and an MFA from the University of Iowa.

Tracy Fullerton is an experimental game designer, professor, and director emeritus of the games program at USC. Her research center, the USC Game Innovation Lab, has produced a number of influential independent games, including Cloud, flOw, Darfur Is Dying, and The Night Journey, with artist Bill Viola. Fullerton is the designer and director of Walden, a game, an adaptation of Henry David Thoreau’s experiment at Walden Pond, which was awarded Game of the Year and Most Significant Impact at Games for Change 2017. Fullerton is also the author of Game Design Workshop: A Playcentric Approach to Creating Innovative Games, a foundational design textbook in use at game programs worldwide, and holder of the Electronic Arts Endowed Chair in Interactive Entertainment. Other recent projects include Collegeology, a suite of college preparation games funded by the Department of Education, the Gilbert Foundation, and the Gates Foundation, and Reality Ends Here, an alternate reality game for incoming freshmen at the USC School of Cinematic Arts.

Mary Jo (MJ) Reutter is a game and toy inventor and the founder of You-Betcha Interactive. With a passion for designing playful, engaging, and thought-provoking experiences, she has created a wide range of board games, toys, and interactive experiences that challenge traditional mechanics and storytelling conventions. Her work focuses on innovation in game design, often incorporating elements that encourage collaboration, creativity, and critical thinking. A seasoned designer with years of industry experience, Reutter is dedicated to pushing the boundaries of play and inspiring new approaches to interactive entertainment.

Related Events:
Game Day at Doheny
Sunday, February 1, 2026, from 12 to 7 p.m.
Friends of the USC Libraries Lecture Hall, Doheny Memorial Library 240 and Doheny Memorial Library 233
For more info, click HERE.

Not All Fun and Games
Dates TBA
Doheny Memorial Library, Treasure Room
Check back for more info.

Presented by USC Visions and Voices. Organized by Anne-Marie Maxwell (USC Libraries), Tyson Gaskill (USC Libraries), Sue Luftschein (USC Libraries), and Tracy Fullerton (USC Game Innovation Lab). Co-sponsored by the USC Libraries.