Maria Ruotsalainen

Postdoctoral Researcher
Unit
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
Department / Division
Department of Music, Art and Culture Studies
Email
maria.a.t.ruotsalainen@jyu.fi
Fields of science
6131 Theatre, dance, music, other performing arts

Research interests

My research examines how playful experience is constructed. By focusing on the experience of the participator of the play, it aims to widen the conceptual paradigm prominent in the study of games and play and produce new insights to the field of game-studies. On the practical side, the research provides insight on how to better plan gamified applications.

Publications

Publication
2026

Gender in video game cultures

Educating For A Video Game Culture, Volume 2. Council of Europe.
Ruotsalainen, Maria
Meriläinen, Mikko
Publication
2026

Men and Masculinities in Gaming: A Scoping Review

Journal of Mens Studies: a Scholarly Journal About Men and Masculinities.
Meriläinen, Mikko
Jørgensen, Kristine
Ruotsalainen, Maria
Bjørkelo, Kristian A.
Publication
2025

Outlining the spectrum of values of self-identified gamers

Digital Games Research Association International Conference. Conference of Digital Games Research Association. Digitial Games Research Association DiGRA.
Vahlo, Jukka
Ruotsalainen, Maria
Tuuri, Kai
Koponen, Aki
More publications from this author

Projects

Centre of Excellence in Game Culture studies logo
Project

The Centre of Excellence in Game Culture Studies

The Centre of Excellence in Game Culture Studies is a joint project between researchers from the Tampere University, University of Turku, and the University of Jyväskylä. Across these institutions, over 30 researchers from the humanities, social sciences
Project

GAMEHIGHED - Higher-ed programmes for careers in game design & development

Erasmus+ funded Strategic Partnership that connects four universities and a game industry association in a 3-year project to develop innovative teaching programmes, open edu-resources [OER] and recommendations for higher education in game development.