Mike Lee of ABC News has moved to Substack. He had me on for a long-form interview about 2040: An American Insurgency, my board game about a future civil war in the US. We talk about the rising risks and the need for getting along. Watch here.
Best Practices for Game Economy Design Targeted to people with a little experience in in economy design who are looking for best practices before diving deeper.
In a new paper at Kyklos (paywalled, sorry), I develop a basic economic theory of fame. I think this may be the start of a more general economic theory of attention. In the next decades, attention may become fairly central to economic thinking, as the virtual economy gradually overtakes the real economy.
I have joined the Academic Freedom Alliance. This organization worries about the right of academics to engage in sincere discussions, even if they might go into hot territory.
This game simulates an American civil war in the year 2040. There is also a free version suitable for classroom exercises.
Since 2018 I’ve had a free print and play game about alcoholism on this site. I made it into a real board game, available now at Game Crafter. The game is priced at cost; no profit is earned from sales.
I just published a paper in Logos: A Journal of Catholic Thought and Culture (vol. 25, no. 4, Fall 2022). Sadly, it is behind a paywall. As religious ideas are increasingly marginalized in the real world, why do they keep showing up in video games?
20 years of experience analyzing virtual economies, in a nutshell.
Webinar hosted by Machinations, a company I am working with on virtual economy design.
GO! GO! GO! GO! GO! GO! GO! GO! GO! GO! GO! GO! GO! GO! GO! GO! GO! GO! GO! GO! GO!
A new interview, wherein I express skepticism for the current metaverse real estate craze, while also expressing confidence in the long-run growth of virtual living because the real world is not very nice for lots of people. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6Ej5w_weEk
Some years ago I wrote a parable for a client about autonomous agent based models. It was rather buried, but it keeps getting hits. So, I am putting it here on the main page. https://edwardcastronova.com/2017/11/03/wile-e-coyote-and-the-computationally-simulated-roadrunner/
Podcast with Grant Martsolf of the Beatrice Institute, talking about my most recent book, Life is a Game. Wide-ranging conversation on games, life, God, technology, and society. https://beatriceinstitute.org/ted-castronova-episode
Any investments made today, before the reckoning between blockchain and the System, are exposed to an extreme level of political risk.
Talking to Word on Fire Ministries about video games as a site for religious expression.
These stories lure us in by making common cause with ordinary people. They seem to express, and ally with, our frustration and hopelessness with a world gone mad…Yet it’s a trick. The same people who commiserate with those on the screen are busy offstage perpetuating the misery.
NFTs are valuable when wrapped in a shell that protects ownership. Forctis is spinning off its shell technology, with revenues going to a foundation. They’re doing it for for Nina, a girl who was lost.
What happens when you try to exploit the engagement energy of games without respecting the features that make them engaging.
What if life is really a game? Many writers and thinkers have said so; but what does it mean? In this book, economist and game design professor Edward Castronova tackles the question head on.
I made a game to help organizations respond to things like COVID-19. It’s being offered for free as my contribution to the crisis. This is a simulation of a virus pandemic attacking a US state. Players play all the critical roles: Governor, National Guard, Police Chiefs, Doctors, FEMA, CDC, and the President. Solid takeaways and very engaging too. See inside for details on running it for your group.
18 months of research finds no evidence that violent games cause social violence.
More than 15 years ago, I wrote this paper about the economies of games. The nice people at Today I Found Out recently made a video about it. Thanks to former student Sami Stegall for the heads up!
Words and Games 