Past OASIS Events & Talks

  • OASIS Lunchtime Talk: Games and Exhaustion
    30/11/2023 12:00 - 13:00

    The neoliberal, capitalist logics that underpin our globalized world are failing. To wake up each day is to be reacquainted with the sense that we are on the verge of social, political, economic, and ecological collapse. It is clear to many who are impacted by this exhausting status quo that something must be done, but the energy required to sustain such work is too often drained by one’s necessary participation in everyday life.

    This talk concerns the pursuit of meaningful, systemic change and it approaches the problem by investigating the intersectional politics of play and exhaustion. I argue that, far from offering a break from the fatigue of our daily work, video games are often designed in ways that uphold neoliberal values of productivity and self-management. I examine how our individualistic, “grind culture” perpetuates the “exhaustion” of bodies (both using them and wearing them down) even when we are at rest. By drawing parallels between the rule-based systems of games and the larger systems we navigate daily, I ask whether there is a way to work both on and at play so that it operates against exhaustion and against the logics of neoliberal, late capitalism.

    Rainforest Scully-Blaker (he/him) is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Center of Excellence for Game Culture Studies. He earned his PhD in Informatics from the University of California, Irvine in 2022 and most recently worked as a Visiting Lecturer in Game Design at Uppsala University (Campus Gotland). His research is concerned with critical approaches to the study of games and those who play them, and, among other things, he is interested in exploring how play can both uphold and dismantle hegemony.

  • After Hours Private Event (Salus ry)
    30/11/2023 17:00 - 20:00

  • After Hours Private Event (PlayLab)
    04/12/2023 17:00 - 20:00

  • OASIS Xmas Gathering & Game Day
    05/12/2023 10:00 - 17:00

    Come hype the finale of the second period and the upcoming holiday season with us to OASIS Xmas Gathering & Game Day!

    - Chill on a beanbag and enjoy the merry vibes featuring christmas tunes and friendly faces
    - Sip some glogg and chew on gingerbreads (for free)
    - Try how Catan plays out when the Robber is replaced with a Santa Claus or how your Agricola farmers prepare for christmas alongside the usual business.
    - Go on virtual adventures in The Escapists: Santa's Sweatshop; Super Mario Odyssey; and Yakuza Kiwami
    - Decorate gingerbreads
    - Draw seasonal postcards on paper or Microsoft Paint
    - Build winter wonderland with Legos
    - Take pictures of your creations and submit them to win prizes!

    The event is open for everyone and free of charge! Welcome.

  • After Hours Private Event (TAYK Ry)
    05/12/2023 17:00 - 20:00

  • After Hours Private Event (Game Studies)
    07/12/2023 17:00 - 20:00

  • After Hours Private Event (OASIS Key Masters)
    08/12/2023 16:00 - 20:00

  • Kahvi
    09/12/2023 10:30 - 11:30

  • After Hours Private Event (PlayLab)
    11/12/2023 17:00 - 20:00

  • After Hours Private Event (Juan Belío)
    12/12/2023 17:00 - 20:00

  • Mediatutkimuksen kandikonferenssi / Bachelor's Thesis Conference for Media Studies Students
    13/12/2023 10:00 - 16:00

    Mediatutkimuksen opiskelijoiden kandikonferenssi

  • After Hours Private Event (Game Research Lab)
    13/12/2023 17:00 - 18:45

  • After Hours Private Event (Teema Ry)
    08/01/2024 17:00 - 20:00

  • After Hours Private Event (PlayLab)
    15/01/2024 17:00 - 20:00

  • Oasis Lunchtime Talk: Making Games Differently
    18/01/2024 12:00 - 13:00

    In November of 2014 prof. Casey O’Donnell published Developer's Dilemma: The Secret World of Videogame Creators with MIT Press (2014), the first long-term ethnographic account of a "AAA" game development studio. The book called on game academics and developers to take a active role in shaping the work practices and cultures that surround game making. One aspiration was to see a future where where "crunch," or extensive overtime, and toxic workplace cultures and work practices might diminish. Given the significant shifts in work worlds "post" COVID-19, the relative collapse of Game Workers Unite (GWU) in the United States and other locations, and the "Great Resignation" as it has been called, is the time to examine what might emerge in the future. In his talk, prof. O’Donnell sketches the contours of his new project, Making Games Differently. It is not about the current state or status quo of game making. It is not about what is, but about what game making could become through a lens of prefigurative politics.

    Department of Media and Information at Michigan State University. He is a 2023-2034 Fulbright-Finland Scholar at Tampere University affiliated with the Centre of Excellence in Game Culture Studies and Game Research Lab. His research examines the creative collaborative work of (video)game design and development and production studies generally. His book, "Developer's Dilemma" is published by MIT Press. He is an active game creator, with his collaborative work on Creative Dying Card Game being nominated for an IndieCade Best Tabletop Award in 2022. His research has been funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institute of Health (NIH).

  • After Hours Private Event (Games as Art Center)
    22/01/2024 17:00 - 20:00

  • After hours Private Event, Ääni ry
    23/01/2024 17:00 - 20:00

  • Spaced Out - Relaxing OASIS
    25/01/2024 13:00 - 17:00

    Spaced Out is back! This time of the year can be stressful and chaotic, but we are here for you! Oasis becomes a relaxing place for everyone who needs to wind down. Whether you need a break between classes, a chill environment to study, or simply a peaceful nap, this event is for you.We will offer comfy bean bags for chilling and sleeping, relaxing soundscape and dim lights.Come join us for a relaxing experience! Note: This event is silent in nature.

  • After Hours Private Event (ESN FINT)
    25/01/2024 17:00 - 20:00

  • After Hours Pivate Event (Teema ry)
    05/02/2024 17:00 - 20:00

    Teema ry

  • OASIS Event: Made in Finland Game Day
    06/02/2024 12:00 - 17:00

    Another game day in Oasis! This time we are offering games made in Finland. We will have Alan Wake 2, as well as other cool games. Come join us for an afternoon of finnish games!

    more info TBA

  • After Hours Private Event (Games As Art Center)
    07/02/2024 17:00 - 20:00

    Digital Gameplay Community (play and talk about interesting games)

  • OASIS Talk: The Value of Toys in a Post-Digital World
    12/02/2024 16:00 - 17:00

    In a play world dominated by games and gameplay, one might wonder if toys are valued as playthings anymore. This talk explores toys, media, and machines from the perspective of object play, meaning play where the physicality, tangibility, and displayability of artifacts continue as meaningful aspects of human interaction with toys amidst and alongside the digitalization and Internet-connectedness of contemporary play. How do toys generate play value and promote long-term play as physical entities as we head toward a post-digital world?

    Dr. Katriina Heljakka is a researcher of toys, play, and playful learning at the University of Turku. She received her doctorate (in visual arts) at the Aalto University in 2013 and has since worked in the Academy of Finland-funded projects Ludification and the Emergence of Playful Culture, Hybrid Social Play (together with Business Finland), and most recently, the Centre of Excellence in Game Culture Studies. Her current research interests include speculative toy fiction, play machines, and playful learning in work and higher education.

  • OASIS After Hour Event (TAYK)
    12/02/2024 17:00 - 20:00

  • After Hours Private Event (Interaktio ry)
    13/02/2024 17:00 - 20:00

    Interaktio ry

  • OASIS Event: TAHRApiiri/ TAHRAcircle
    15/02/2024 17:00 - 19:00

    In TAHRAcircle you can come and work on your own arts and crafts projects and enjoy some good company. TAHRAcircle is organized by arts and crafts club TAHRA.

  • OASIS Lunchtime Talk: THE RULES WE BREAK - Lessons in Play, Thinking, and Design
    16/02/2024 12:00 - 13:00

    Eric Zimmerman
    THE RULES WE BREAK - Lessons in Play, Thinking, and Design

    What good is game design? In this highly interactive talk, Eric Zimmerman will share ideas and playful activities from THE RULES WE BREAK - Lessons in Play, Thinking, and Design - a compendium of exercises from more than three decades of teaching. Eric will lead us through some of the exercises in the book that teach the fundamentals of design (systems thinking, the semiotics of play, narrative design, the iterative process) through play and games. Making a case for the relevance of game design, he will connect concepts from play and games to the challenges of our present historical moment.

    Eric Zimmerman is a game designer and Arts Professor at the NYU Game Center. A three decade veteran of the game industry, Eric designs play on and off the computer. Recent projects include Dear Reader, a game published by Apple that uses classic literature as the basis for word puzzles, and The Green Games Guide, an industry initiative to design and manufacture environmentally sustainable tabletop games. Eric is the co-author of Rules of Play with Katie Salen and more recently The Rules We Break.

  • After Hours Private Event (Salus ry)
    19/02/2024 17:00 - 20:00

  • After Hours Private Event (Ääni ry)
    20/02/2024 17:00 - 18:00

  • After Hour Event (SAS Horror Movie Night)
    21/02/2024 17:00 - 20:00