Celia Pearce (born September 6, 1961) is an American game designer currently teaching at

Northeastern University Northeastern University (NU) is a private research university with its main campus in Boston. Established in 1898, the university offers undergraduate and graduate programs on its main campus as well as satellite campuses in Charlotte, North C ...

as an associate professor. She is a co-founder and current Festival Chair of

IndieCade IndieCade is an international juried festival of independent games. IndieCade is known as "the video game industry's Sundance."Fritz, Ben"IndieCade, the video game industry's Sundance" Los Angeles Times, October 1, 2009, accessed July 21, 2011 ...

, an international festival of independent games. She is currently a professor at Northeastern University and occasionally talks and shows games at art and game events such as Different Games and Incubate Arcade.

Life and career

Pearce previously held a position at the

Georgia Institute of Technology The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

as Head of the Experimental Game Lab and Emergent Game Group. She has also worked as a part of different conventions such as IndieCade and Women in Games. Pearce's work focuses on the creation and moderation of virtual worlds and networks as well as covers topics such as

cosplay Cosplay, a portmanteau of "costume play", is an activity and performance art in which participants called cosplayers wear costumes and fashion accessories to represent a specific character. Cosplayers often interact to create a subcultur ...

role-playing Role-playing or roleplaying is the changing of one's behaviour to assume a role, either unconsciously to fill a social role, or consciously to act out an adopted role. While the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' offers a definition of role-playing as ...

, and

gender representation in video games The portrayal of men and women in video games, as in other media, is a subject of research in gender studies and is discussed in the context of sexism in video gaming. Although women make up about half of video game players, they are significant ...

. In her profession, Pearce has also worked with other game designers such as

Tracy Fullerton Tracy Fullerton (born June 21, 1965) is an American game designer, educator and writer. She is a Professor in the USC Interactive Media & Games Division of the USC School of Cinematic Arts and Director of the Game Innovation Lab at USC. In 2014 ...

, Will Wright, and

Eric Zimmerman Eric Zimmerman (born 1969) is an American game designer and the co-founder and CEO of Gamelab, a computer game development company based in Manhattan. GameLab is known for the game ''Diner Dash''. Each year Zimmerman hosts the Game Design Cha ...

Games

Candy Crusher (2015)

* A strategic board game in which players rearrange and smash candy pieces with hammers in order to create the longest row. The game was designed in collaboration with Jeanie Choi (an MFA masters student in Interdisciplinary Arts at Northeastern).

CLITar (2016)

* A plush toy covered in pompoms in which the player has to find hidden buttons between the pompoms which then play synthesized woman's noises through a speaker in the top of the CLITar.

eBee (2016)

* An electronic quilting game in which players build circuits with quilted hexagons that connect the central hub with a power source.

Written works

*''The Interactive Book: A Guide to the Interactive Revolution'' (1997) ::A book exploring the history and potential of digital and interactive media. *''Playing Dress-Up: Costumes, Roleplay and Imagination'' (2007) ::A co-authored essay exploring dressing up as a historically female practice and how it fits into modern entertainment means. *''Communities of Play'' (2011) ::An exploration of emergent fan cultures in digital worlds with integrated player networks. *''Ethnography and Virtual Worlds'' (2012) ::A guide meant for those interested in studying online virtual worlds using scientific methods and descriptions. Co-authored with

Tom Boellstorff Tom Boellstorff is an anthropologist based at the University of California, Irvine. In his career to date, his interests have included the anthropology of sexuality, the anthropology of globalization, digital anthropology, Southeast Asian studie ...

Bonnie Nardi Bonnie Nardi is an emeritus professor of the Department of Informatics at the University of California, Irvine, where she led the TechDec research lab in the areas of Human-Computer Interaction and computer-supported cooperative work. She is well ...

, and

T. L. Taylor T. L. Taylor (born 1967) is an American sociologist and professor. Taylor specialises in researching the culture of gaming and online communities, in particular, esports, live-streaming, and MMOGs such as ''EverQuest'' and ''World of Warcraft'' ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pearce, Celia Living people 1961 births American game designers Northeastern University faculty American women game designers American women academics 21st-century American women