Playing with Constraints: Designing Inclusive Games and Controllers (Workshop)

2026. To appear at ACM CHI PLAY 2026.

Priscilla Lo, Grace Stangroome, Vishal Joshi, Jack Burnett, David Thue & Oussama Metatla.

How can we design inclusive games that appeal to gamers with different abilities? This workshop invites the CHI PLAY community to play with constraints and conceptualize games that enable forms of play beyond conventional patterns. We build on our prior work that applies the concept of "impaired technologies'' as a design provocation in a game jam to encourage alternative perspectives on play. Participants will create multiplayer games that are played with impaired technologies or, as an extension, that use novel interactions. We aim to engage researchers and practitioners interested in designing playful prototypes, including digital games, immersive experiences, tangible toys, and game controllers.