VisPubs Games: Joyful Discovery of Visualization Research(ers)
Devin Lange, Zach Cutler, Maxim Lisnic
Published: 2025/9/19
Abstract
Many sophisticated tools exist to help researchers find the academic literature they are searching for, but what about finding work that you aren't looking for? We promote joyful discovery of visualization research through two games (Colon and Authored) available to play now at https://games.vispubs.com. We believe these games provide several benefits to the visualization research community. First, the joyful discovery of visualization research and researchers occurs because these games randomly select authors and publications, thus exposing players to research areas they may not typically engage with. Second, these games were made by visualization researchers for visualization researchers; playing this game, sharing results with friends in person and online, has the potential to strengthen our academic community. Third, games centered around publication authors provide a passive way for academics to gain exposure within the community. Finally, we hope these games are simply fun to play. Try them now at games.vispubs.com.