Twitter/X: @melissainau
Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissainau/
University of Melbourne Find an Expert: https://findanexpert.unimelb.edu.au/profile/692202-melissa-rogerson
A life-long gamer, I was the first woman member of the International Gamers’ Awards jury and the second to be an administrator on BoardGameGeek, have translated award-winning games from German to English, and met my husband at a role-playing game convention. I am a former co-chair of Boardgames Australia and am a member of the Scientific Committee of Game-in-Lab. My favourite games include Picture Perfect and Terraforming Mars, and I am mostly undefeated at Pack and Stack. I am utterly terrible at abstract games.
My current research centers on the use of digital and electronic tools for hybrid tabletop game play. This is supported through two Australian Research Council funded projects:
Hybrid Technologies for Tabletop Play (Melissa Rogerson; Discovery Early Career Researcher Award, 2024-2026)
Co-designing Innovations In Digital Storytelling with Older Adults (Jenny Waycott, Melissa Rogerson, Lucy Sparrow, and Martin Gibbs; Discovery Project, 2024-2027)
I am also interested in how people form and enact strategies, particularly in situations where they do not have perfect information, and in how people can play physical games when they are unable to be together; what we call "distanced play". I am a regular media commentator on boardgaming topics.
My other research interests and projects include:
Strategic planning in games
The "Digital Hinterlands" of traditionally offline pursuits
Designing online consultations for people with cognitive fatigue.
I am available to supervise Masters and PhD research projects within the School of Computing and Information Systems. Please feel free to get in touch with your project ideas or to discuss my current projects. Please see my full list of publications here or on Google Scholar.