Jack Murray

Texts and Technology PhD Student

University of Central Florida

Biography

Jack Murray is currently a PhD student in the Texts and Technology program at the University of Central Florida. He received his Masters of Arts in Art, Technology, and Emerging Communication and B.S. in Software Engineering from the University of Texas at Dallas. Jack’s research interests include game design and development, analog and digital play, and esports communities. Jack’s current research is focused on the intersection of analog and digital games, the affective potential of games, and the relationship between games and computing technology. When not working on research, game projects, and complaining about board games, Jack likes to race cars, sword fight, and lay on the floor with his dog, Kiska.

Interests

Game Design and development
Analog and Digital Game Studies
Technology and Platform Studies
Affect and Queer Theory
Board Games
Esports
Werewolves

Education

PhD in Texts and Technology Student, 2023
University of Central Florida
MA in Arts, Technology, and Emerging Communication, 2019
University of Texas at Dallas
BS in Software Engineering, 2017
University of Texas at Dallas

Skills

Game Design

Analog and Digital Games

Game Development

Engineering and Production

VR/AR Development

Virtual and Augmented Reality Experiences

Software Engineering

Java, C#, etc.

Recent Publications

More Than Just the Table: Analog Games as Computational Platforms

Analog game platforms are more than just individual material objects as the platform studies methodology would argue. Platform studies …

Talks and Presentations

“Board games as tool for describing computational thinking process”

This talk was given as part of the Board games and Learning panel at the AECT 2020 International Conference

Nov 5, 2020 1:00 PM University of Texas at Dallas

More than Just the Table: Analog Games as Computational Platforms

This talk and paper were a part of the proceedings for the FDG 2020 conference as part of the Game Criticsm and Analysis track.

Oct 21, 2019 7:56 PM Malta/Virtual

Super Baguettes, Space World Cup, and Moon Pope: Collaborative storytelling in megagames through metaplay

This was an asynchronous presentation presented during the 2020 ELO Conference. The presentation covers Megagames and digital …

Oct 21, 2019 University of Central Florida/Virtual

Masters Showcase: Massively Multiplayer Offline Games

Apr 26, 2019 University of Texas at Dallas

Live Action Role Playing: Narrative and the Boundaries of Play

Apr 13, 2019 Texas Tech University

Projects

As You Walk

Parser based Interactive Fiction written in Inform7. Wander through a procedurally generated, text-based, desert reflecting on the …

As You Walk

A board game about mixing paint and creating collaborative art. Print and Play PDF available.

Days Inside

A small project made in Bitsy documenting the early days of the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown.

Poe Thinks

A web based generative poetry experiment based on the work of Edgar Allan Poe.

Experience

Graduate Teaching Associate

University of Central Florida, Games and Interactive Media

Nov 2020 – Present Orlando, Florida

Instructor of record for Games and Interactive Media in the Nicholson School of Communication and Media at UCF. Courses: Evolution of Games

Graduate Research Assistant

CHDR@UCF

Aug 2020 – Present Orlando, Florida

Research Assistant in the Center for Humanities and Digital Research at UCF. Game Design and Development Specialist.

Graduate Teaching Assistant

University of Texas at Dallas

Aug 2018 – May 2019 Texas

Teaching Assistant for Fundamentals of Game Design.

Interactive Developer

900lbs of Creative

Aug 2017 – Aug 2018 Texas

Developed interactive experiences in the Unity game engine.