Celia Pearce
Celia Pearce is a designer, educator, curator, and researcher who focuses on creating "social entertainment experiences. " She has particular expertise in social game systems and virtual worlds, and has published extensively on indie and art games. Pearce has a long history in design; her first interactive attractions date to 1983 when she created theme parks. She has created many games and immersive entertainment experiences over her career; her designs include 'virtual reality attractions' Virtual Adventures and a card game for girls for the now defunct Purple Moon begun by entrepreneur Brenda Laurel. Pearce is a noted expert on the topic of gender and games. Pearce earned her doctorate in 2006 from the Univ. of the Arts in England. She is and Assistant Professor of Digital Media at the Georgia Institute of Technology. There, she leads the Experimental Game Lab (EGL) and works with students making games in her research lab, the 'Emergent Game Group' (EGG). Pearce has authored (or co-authored) numerous essays. She has written two books: The Interactive Book (1997) and in 2009, Communities of Play: Emergent Cultures in Multiplayer Games and Virtual Worlds. This book is a particularly noteworthy examination of relationships in online worlds through ethnography; Pearce and her avatar 'Artemesia' co-authored the book. Her articles and book chapters include a section of Noah Wardrip-Fruin and Pat Harrigan's First Person: New Media as Story, Performance, and Game. Pearce is also a curator, and has been behind several unique exhibitions of new media art, virtual art, and game-related exhibitions. She has also interviewed numerous influential designers in the field, including Will Wright. As one of the founders of, the Culver City based independent game festival, she is a supporter of the independent and art game scene; in 2010, she collaboratively launched Codename, an indie game label, to bring unusual games to market. She is one of the founders of the game theory/practice collective 'Ludica.'