Episode 16: Stefano Gualeni, Utopia, Play, and Fictional Games

In this episode, we speak with Stefano Gualeni, a Full Professor at the Institute of Digital Games, University of Malta.In our conversation with Stefano, we draw on his varied professional expertise as a philosopher, game designer, and writer of fiction to discuss all things related to utopias and dystopias, play, and fictional games. In doing so, we cover ideas Stefano discusses in Fictional Games: A Philosophy of Worldbuilding and Imaginary Play (2022) and his most recent novel What We Owe The Dead (2025).You can find out more about Stefano and his work here: ⁠https://gua-le-ni.com/ - you can even play some of his games on his website too, so do give them a go!Matt also has a new book out! You can find Play in Utopian and Dystopian Fiction here: https://www.liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/doi/book/10.3828/9781836244790We also want to bring your attention to ‘Teaching Utopia’, a public repository of syllabi, reading lists, and teaching materials about utopia and dystopia housed on Zotero. There are two ways to contribute. You can upload them directly to Zotero yourself after joining the group library entitled “Teaching Utopia” (https://www.zotero.org/groups/6069510/teaching_utopia/library). Or you can contribute by filling out a brief Google Form (https://tinyurl.com/teachingutopia). If you have any trouble, you can contact Sophie Cardin – who created and manages the repository –  via email at [email protected] or on Bluesky @sophiecardin.bsky.social. Sophie is a doctoral researcher at the University of Oxford, where she studies utopia and the history of Yiddish political thought.If you enjoyed this episode, please let us know! You can follow and rate the podcast, leave us a comment, or email us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected]