Full Papers: PACMHCI GAMES Track

The GAMES track of PACMHCI (CHI PLAY) welcomes research on player-computer interactions, including understanding player experience, novel designs or implementations of player-computer interactions, and contributions to related theory. The track also welcomes contributions on the effects of various technologies, software, or algorithms on player experiences.

Accepted papers will be published in the ACM Journal PACMHCI, in the GAMES track, and authors are invited to present at the CHI PLAY conference series.

Topics of Interest

We invite contributions across a variety of research techniques, methods, approaches, and domains, including, but not limited to:

• Novel input or output technologies for games and play
• Studies that contribute to our understanding of player experience of digital play
• Innovative game mechanics and playful interactions
• Theoretical contributions on digital play and games
• Accessible and inclusive design of player-computer interactions
• Esports, live streaming, and spectator experiences
• Advances in digital game user research, game evaluation methods, and methods for conducting games research
• Psychology and typologies of digital games and players
• Studies of applied, serious, and persuasive digital games (e.g., games and play for health, well-being, and learning)
• Gamification and motivational design
• Virtual and augmented reality in games and play
• New tools for digital game creation and co-creation that directly affect player experience and/or player-computer interactions
• Game analytics and novel visualizations of player-computer interactions
• Developer experiences and studies of developers of digital games
• Applications of human-centered game AI with implications for HCI games research (e.g., AI for digital game development or AI to improve player-computer interactions)
• Critical and reflexive approaches to digital games & play design and experience
• Gaming industry case studies

PACMHCI GAMES welcomes contributions that are translations of articles published in other languages, so long as the original authors remain, and the paper is clearly identified as a translation with reference to the original paper.

Technical contributions without impact on players or other relevant people, nor systems without a gameful or playful component, nor physical games without a digital element are not within scope.

Important Dates

(all times are 23:59 Anywhere on Earth or AoE)

• Submission deadline: February 19, 2025
• Notifications given: April 14, 2025 (accept with minor revisions/revise and resubmit/reject)
• Revisions due: June 2, 2025
• Final notifications given: July 4, 2025

Submission Process Details

• System: PACMHCI GAMES uses the Precision Conference System (PCS) 2.0: https://new.precisionconference.com/submissions. Select “SIGCHI” and “CHI PLAY” to submit.
• ACM Policies: Authors must comply with the ACM Policy on Authorship, including originality, author awareness, and no concurrent submissions. Related to this policy, listed authors cannot be changed after the submission deadline.
• Confidentiality: Submitted material will be confidential. Authors must ensure no proprietary or confidential information is included.
• ORCID ID: Authors are required to obtain an ORCID ID for the publishing process.
• Formatting: Papers use the ACM Journals Primary Article Template, available for LaTeX (and Overleaf) and Word: https://dl.acm.org/journal/pacmhci/submission-templates.
  • No minimum or maximum page length is imposed; reviewers weigh contribution relative to length. Typical papers are under 10,000 words.
• Anonymous Review Policy: Submissions must have authors’ names and affiliations removed, and avoid obvious identifying statements. Papers violating this policy will be desk rejected.

Revision Cycles and Decisions

• Accept with Minor Revisions: Paper is nearly ready for publication; requires small changes.
• Revise and Resubmit: Paper has potential but needs major rewriting; requires re-review. Not all resubmitted papers are guaranteed acceptance.
• Reject: Paper is not acceptable in its current form and cannot be improved within the revision period.
• Desk Reject: Submissions may be desk rejected for reasons such as incompleteness, non-anonymization, concurrent submissions, plagiarism, wrong format, language issues, or being out of scope.

Video Figures

Video figures are mandatory for submissions with custom-built games or systems not freely available. They should showcase the game or system comprehensively and be no more than three minutes long.

Presenting at the CHI PLAY Conference

Accepted papers will be invited to present at the ACM CHI PLAY conference. Presenting is strongly recommended but not required for publication.

Overleaf Formatting Instructions

Instructions for using the ACM Primary Article Template in Overleaf are provided, including renaming files, using "review" and "anonymous" styles, and managing bibliography files.