About Board Game Academics
Board Game Academics is an organization that publishes articles and essays, holds conferences, and provides consulting support to organizations discussing the role of tabletop board games, card games, roleplaying games, and other analog gaming experiences in achieving the stated goals of the higher education community.
We are Board Game Academics, a group of tabletop gamers and academic professionals of various stripes. Our mission is to combine research and gaming in novel ways. This multi-disciplinary project takes the form of an academic journal and two annual conferences to better critically examine the role of gaming across society, education, and beyond, and to evaluate commercially available games for practical applications. We are mainly focused on the historical, cultural, and systemic exploration of games as they relate to themes of race, gender, nationality, (de)coloniality, ability, sexuality, and class. In bringing these areas closer together, we hope to encourage meaningful discourse between academics, researchers, and gamers.
Scholarship in this field is also relatively new and constantly evolving, with ideas from our community of gamers guiding discussions and research. We encourage gamers and interested parties of all types to come along as we explore how people relate to and experience games together.
Our Story
Board Gamers Anonymous was founded in 2013 to explore the use of games to build communities through play. Since then, the founders have created hundreds of hours of audio and video recordings exploring current gaming habits, the use of games in diverse spaces, the role of games in academic and commercial discourse, and the way in which games interact with a broad range of communities, within fandom and for general audiences. BGA was founded in 2022 to further explore the role of tabletop board games in higher education.
Our Mission
Board Game Academics (BGA) is committed to bridging the gap between the tabletop gaming industry and community, as well as the use of tabletop games in higher education and within professional practice. We support scholars, educators, and practitioners—including teachers, counselors, occupational therapists, and social workers—to explore the broad range of academic, cultural, and practical applications tabletop games have. Each year, BGA publishes an academic journal, sponsors educational initiatives, and holds community-driven events that advocate for tabletop games to be used as tools for learning, therapy, accessibility, and professional development.
BGA partners with scholars, practitioners, and institutions throughout higher education and industry to foster a deeper understanding of the role board games play in assessing historical awareness, social engagement, and experiential education. As a long-time media partner in the tabletop gaming industry, we create content that provides a third space for underrepresented gamers and encourages critical discourse on the ever changing and evolving role of tabletop gaming in society.
Through academic conferences, charity board game days, and nationwide presentations, among other initiatives, we champion inclusivity, accessibility, and the power of play to build stronger communities.
Our Vision
Board Game Academics (BGA) actively works to further the role of tabletop gaming in society. We envision a world in which gaming is recognized as a transformative educational and professional tool, working with partners in higher education and industry to see the full integration of tabletop games into social services, institutional learning, and colleges/universities.
BGA will continue to expand its partnerships with tabletop industry professionals and academic institutions, providing resources and support for scholars and professionals who are actively using games in their fields. We will establish university-hosted gaming conferences worldwide, fostering collaboration and research that advances the field of game studies.
BGA’s vision is to cultivate a vibrant and inclusive community in which people of all backgrounds will feel seen, heard, and empowered to explore the powerful role tabletop gaming plays in shaping our shared history, culture, education, and social connections.
Get Involved
We welcome a range of critical approaches and diverse voices to explore how games intersect with literary criticism, media studies, writing pedagogy, psychology, career development, gender studies, and other elements of the higher education experience.