Stephanie Mader

Dr. Stephanie Mader is a researcher affiliated with the Cédric Laboratory, focusing on game design, therapeutic games, and digital education. Her work bridges game studies with practical applications in pedagogy and healthcare.

• Ph.D. in Game Design (2015, National Conservatory of Arts and Crafts - CNAM)
• Specializes in therapeutic games, procedural rhetoric, and educational game development
• Collaborates internationally with institutions in France, Switzerland, Italy, and Canada

She explores how minimal game design spaces (e.g., Tetris variations) can convey complex discourses through procedural rhetoric, analyzing player habits and styles. Her 2023 studies examine consciousness-raising in gameplay and skills acquisition via escape games.

Her publications span 2009-2023, covering themes like Swiss video game history (Smaky era), digital accessibility, and game creation as pedagogical tools. She has presented at ICEC, DiGRA, and Inforsid conferences.

A key contribution includes the Player/Game/Therapy Model (2012) for therapeutic game analysis and frameworks for evaluating classroom game creation activities (2022). She demonstrates practical projects like the Virtual Guide Dog and Tetris-20.