Beetle Migration Game: Balancing Ecosystems as a More-than-Human Play Practice

Federico Bonetti; Linas Gabrielaitis; Simone Bassanelli; Fatin Hamid; Laura Cosio; Annapaola Marconi

doi:10.1145/3789624.3789647

Beetle Migration Game: Balancing Ecosystems as a More-than-Human Play Practice

Federico Bonetti^*
, Linas Gabrielaitis
, Simone Bassanelli
, Fatin Hamid
, Laura Cosio
, Annapaola Marconi

^*Corresponding author for this work

Computing Sciences

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › Scientific › peer-review

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Abstract

The paper presents Beetle Migration Game, a work-in-progress serious game designed with the ecological principles of bark beetle migration and forest resilience. We document a design approach that incorporates More-than-Human principles and non-anthropocentric perspectives that recognize the entanglement and agency of all species within the game mechanics and systems. This methodology utilizes a lightweight annotation process to ensure ecological logics are made explicit, aiming to shift serious games from individual achievement and maximizing rewards towards fostering ecological thinking and awareness. The paper details the game design process, including the player’s role as a steward in managing a forest ecosystem facing beetle infestations, and discusses the potential for this More-than-Human approach to encourage players to focus on ecological interdependencies rather than isolated, exploitation-based goals. We carry out a preliminary user study with 65 participants and identify 2 directions for future work.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Proceedings of the 10th Annual International GamiFIN Conference 2026, GamiFIN 2026
Editors	Prajwal DSouza, Hairui Tang, Nannan Xi, Juho Hamari
Publisher	ACM
ISBN (Electronic)	9798400721908
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1145/3789624.3789647
Publication status	Published - Mar 2026
Publication type	A4 Article in conference proceedings
Event	International GamiFIN Conference - Saariselkä, Finland Duration: 23 Mar 2026 → 27 Mar 2026 https://gamifinconference.com/

Conference

Conference	International GamiFIN Conference
Country/Territory	Finland
City	Saariselkä
Period	23/03/26 → 27/03/26
Internet address	https://gamifinconference.com/

Keywords

bark beetle
ecology
forests
more-than-human
serious games

Publication forum classification

Publication forum level 1

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Human-Computer Interaction
Computational Theory and Mathematics

Access to Document

10.1145/3789624.3789647Licence: CC BY

Beetle Migration Game Balancing Ecosystems as a More-than-Human Play PracticeFinal published version, 7.46 MBLicence: CC BY

https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-202605125426Licence: CC BY

Cite this

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title = "Beetle Migration Game: Balancing Ecosystems as a More-than-Human Play Practice",

abstract = "The paper presents Beetle Migration Game, a work-in-progress serious game designed with the ecological principles of bark beetle migration and forest resilience. We document a design approach that incorporates More-than-Human principles and non-anthropocentric perspectives that recognize the entanglement and agency of all species within the game mechanics and systems. This methodology utilizes a lightweight annotation process to ensure ecological logics are made explicit, aiming to shift serious games from individual achievement and maximizing rewards towards fostering ecological thinking and awareness. The paper details the game design process, including the player{\textquoteright}s role as a steward in managing a forest ecosystem facing beetle infestations, and discusses the potential for this More-than-Human approach to encourage players to focus on ecological interdependencies rather than isolated, exploitation-based goals. We carry out a preliminary user study with 65 participants and identify 2 directions for future work.",

keywords = "bark beetle, ecology, forests, more-than-human, serious games",

author = "Federico Bonetti and Linas Gabrielaitis and Simone Bassanelli and Fatin Hamid and Laura Cosio and Annapaola Marconi",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2026 Copyright held by the owner/author(s).; International GamiFIN Conference ; Conference date: 23-03-2026 Through 27-03-2026",

year = "2026",

month = mar,

doi = "10.1145/3789624.3789647",

language = "English",

editor = "Prajwal DSouza and Hairui Tang and Nannan Xi and Juho Hamari",

booktitle = "Proceedings of the 10th Annual International GamiFIN Conference 2026, GamiFIN 2026",

publisher = "ACM",

address = "United States",

url = "https://gamifinconference.com/",

}

Bonetti, F, Gabrielaitis, L, Bassanelli, S, Hamid, F, Cosio, L & Marconi, A 2026, Beetle Migration Game: Balancing Ecosystems as a More-than-Human Play Practice. in P DSouza, H Tang, N Xi & J Hamari (eds), Proceedings of the 10th Annual International GamiFIN Conference 2026, GamiFIN 2026., 14, ACM, International GamiFIN Conference, Saariselkä, Finland, 23/03/26. https://doi.org/10.1145/3789624.3789647

Beetle Migration Game: Balancing Ecosystems as a More-than-Human Play Practice. / Bonetti, Federico; Gabrielaitis, Linas; Bassanelli, Simone et al.
Proceedings of the 10th Annual International GamiFIN Conference 2026, GamiFIN 2026. ed. / Prajwal DSouza; Hairui Tang; Nannan Xi; Juho Hamari. ACM, 2026. 14.

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › Scientific › peer-review

TY - GEN

T1 - Beetle Migration Game

T2 - International GamiFIN Conference

AU - Bonetti, Federico

AU - Gabrielaitis, Linas

AU - Bassanelli, Simone

AU - Hamid, Fatin

AU - Cosio, Laura

AU - Marconi, Annapaola

PY - 2026/3

Y1 - 2026/3

N2 - The paper presents Beetle Migration Game, a work-in-progress serious game designed with the ecological principles of bark beetle migration and forest resilience. We document a design approach that incorporates More-than-Human principles and non-anthropocentric perspectives that recognize the entanglement and agency of all species within the game mechanics and systems. This methodology utilizes a lightweight annotation process to ensure ecological logics are made explicit, aiming to shift serious games from individual achievement and maximizing rewards towards fostering ecological thinking and awareness. The paper details the game design process, including the player’s role as a steward in managing a forest ecosystem facing beetle infestations, and discusses the potential for this More-than-Human approach to encourage players to focus on ecological interdependencies rather than isolated, exploitation-based goals. We carry out a preliminary user study with 65 participants and identify 2 directions for future work.

AB - The paper presents Beetle Migration Game, a work-in-progress serious game designed with the ecological principles of bark beetle migration and forest resilience. We document a design approach that incorporates More-than-Human principles and non-anthropocentric perspectives that recognize the entanglement and agency of all species within the game mechanics and systems. This methodology utilizes a lightweight annotation process to ensure ecological logics are made explicit, aiming to shift serious games from individual achievement and maximizing rewards towards fostering ecological thinking and awareness. The paper details the game design process, including the player’s role as a steward in managing a forest ecosystem facing beetle infestations, and discusses the potential for this More-than-Human approach to encourage players to focus on ecological interdependencies rather than isolated, exploitation-based goals. We carry out a preliminary user study with 65 participants and identify 2 directions for future work.

KW - bark beetle

KW - ecology

KW - forests

KW - more-than-human

KW - serious games

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105036384984

U2 - 10.1145/3789624.3789647

DO - 10.1145/3789624.3789647

M3 - Conference contribution

AN - SCOPUS:105036384984

BT - Proceedings of the 10th Annual International GamiFIN Conference 2026, GamiFIN 2026

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ER -

Beetle Migration Game: Balancing Ecosystems as a More-than-Human Play Practice

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