Discovering Lucca Comics and Games under the lens of design

Lucca Comics and Games is an interesting event in the eyes of a designer for infinite reasons. First and foremost, it is a cultural and pop event - in the highest possible value attributable to this last word - an event that outlines many present but also future traits of our society. If it is true that the service society is moving more and more towards gamification, we cannot pretend that video games are still just pastimes for kids. The board game knows how to be a tool that goes beyond amusement by flowing into the serious game strand, useful in corporate workshops and in changing people's habits.


Lucca Comics and Games 2024 campaign image

Lucca Comics and Games is an interesting opportunity to learn a lot from the world of gaming: how communities and ‘zones of freedom’ develop, for example, or where digital technology and the entertainment industry is going. And much more besides.
It is up to the attentive eyes of the designers to find the nuances of meaning by experiencing this unique festival, above all with a lot of fun and lightness.

The programme is vast, we list below 5 events where we could meet:

40 years of Tetris
1984: Alexey L. Pajitnov, a programmer at the Moscow Academy of Sciences and a great lover of puzzle games, introduced the world to what would become a universal phenomenon: Tetris.
Tetris is one of the most iconic and best-loved video games of all time, with hundreds of millions of copies sold on over 50 platforms, created in 1984 by the mind of Moscow Academy of Sciences programmer and great puzzle game lover: Alexey L. Pajitnov.
It was Alexey L. Pajitnov and Henk B. Rogers, co-founder of The Tetris Company, will talk about the history of the game, its impact on pop culture, and share their thoughts on the direction the brand is taking with Lucca Comics & Games participants.

Appointment on 31 October at 4pm in the Auditorio San Francesco
 

Francesca Ghermandi: The Intergalactic Planet. Comics, Drawings and Object
Among the numerous exhibitions of this edition, we choose the one dedicated to Francesca Ghermandi, twice entered in the Golden Register of Lucca Comics & Games: in 1997 with the Pantera Best Author award and in 2023 with the Gran Guinigi Best Drawing (ex aequo) for I misteri dell'oceano intergalattico (The Mysteries of the Intergalactic Ocean).
His fantastic versatility is on display, offering intellectual stimulation and visual gratification of the highest level. In addition to the originals of his most famous comic works, visitors will be able to admire books, ceramics, scarves, furniture curtains, t-shirts and multimedia contributions.

From 19 October to 3 November at the Palazzo Ducale, free admission.
 

Route to Fun. The board game atlas.
How do you orient yourself in the vast sea of intelligent fun? Thanks to the Atlas of Board Games, written by Andrea Davide Cuman and Cristian Confalonieri, a real compass from which to set off on an exploratory journey, but also a safe harbour to return to in search of new stimuli. The authors discuss the criteria for this navigation and explore the great sea of the game, illustrating its main currents and describing some of the most interesting landings.
Christian Antonini will moderate.

31 October at 3.30 p.m. in Sala G. Ingellis

Find out more about the book here: https://www.fuorisalone.it/it/magazine/focus/article/1609/atlante-dei-giochi-da-tavolo 
 

University course in Gaming and Boardgame design.
Given the success of the first one, a second edition of the course in Gaming and Board game design will be organised at the University of Genoa in the period April-June 2025. The course will be held in collaboration between the Gaming Research Centre (Department of Political and International Sciences of the University of Genoa), the University of Milan (Department of Informatics) and in partnership with Lucca Comics and Games. The lessons of the course will be held in mixed mode (in presence and online) in the two locations of Milan and Genoa. The course will be presented on 31 October by Renzo Repetti (Unige), Alessandro Rizzi (Unimi), Andrea Angiolino, Luca Borsa, and Roberto Di Meglio (game designers and lecturers).
 

The game Changing matrix.
A new tool, designed for the design, analysis and evaluation of games for change. It is a methodology that combines the Mechanics, Dynamics, Aesthetics, and Outcomes (MDAO) framework conceptualised by Heather Browning with the logic of journey maps, already used in service design. The output of the research is a matrix, capable of mapping and analysing the entire gaming experience, allowing designers to balance mechanics, dynamics, aesthetics and desired outcomes, adapting to different types of games and contexts: from therapeutic gaming to gamification, from educational gaming to serious games.

The project will be presented in IMT Library on 1 November at 17:00
Courtesy of Lucca Comics and Games (edizione 2023)