Game Design Workshop with Carl-Erik Engqvist

With the avalanche of generative AI emerging from all directions, it becomes increasingly difficult to determine what creatives should focus on. However, according to writers like Robert Kurvitz, one of the main creators of the game Disco Elysium, the timeless skills of storytelling and worldbuilding will only grow more significant as we move into a future we face with trepidation. Using the example of roleplaying games — both traditional tabletop games and their digital counterparts — this workshop will explore the how, when, who, and why of breathing life into a playable world by collaboratively creating one together. Additionally, it will show how to apply this mindset to broader contexts beyond games and why this is important. No prior skills are necessary, but an open, creative playfulness is required.

Carl-Erik Engqvist is a contemporary artist and game designer with a background in theology and philosophy. He holds a Master of Fine Arts from the Umeå Academy of Fine Arts (2009). His artistic journey began with painting and sculpture before evolving into new media art, where he explored artificial intelligence, robotics, biotechnology, and virtual worlds. During this time, he examined the intersection of spirituality and advanced technology, creating speculative hybrids between the sacred and the technological - a chapter he refers to as his "pretentious period,” as he has since returned to sculpture, painting, and illustration.

Carl-Erik, a lifelong gamer and RPG enthusiast considers games profound artistic tools for exploring myths, spirituality, history, narrative, world-building, and the human condition. His enthusiasm led him to pursue game design in 2015 as an artistic medium to delve into the existential depth of play and storytelling, both with self-published games and within the game industry. Currently, Carl-Erik is the Artist Director of Humlab, the digital humanities laboratory at Umeå University.

Join us for this two-part workshop on Tuesday, Februray 25 and Wednesday, February 26, 10:00-15:00 each day, with a lunch break (on your own cost) and an afternoon fika provided.