The Games Research Association of Poland’s Main Board, the Poznań GRAP Centre at the Institute of Applied Linguistics of Adam Mickiewicz University of Poznań and the Centre for Ludological Research in Glottodidactics and Intercultural Communication (IAL AMU) have the honour of presenting the 6^th International Conference on the “Culture-Generative Function of Games” cycle.

Games research more and more significant in the world’s science have rooted also in Poland . Among others, the achievements and publications of GRAP show it. Therefore we wish to continue the consideration on this important phenomenon carrying hope not only for fruitful academic reflection but also for collaboration of people differently related to games.

In 2010 we will concentrate on the following problems:

·         Games as a subject of academic research

·         Social usefulness of games research

·         What can be the purpose of designing games?

·         What can games give to their users?

·         Researchers, designers, users, journalists: separated or communicating vessels?

·         What does the pleasure of playing consist in?

·         The place of games in cultural transformations

·         Games as a medium of popular culture

·         Games in education and popularisation

·         Communicative and linguistic games

·         The language of games

·         Intercultural games

·         Modern technologies and new types of games

·         Games from the perspective of economics, market and economy

The two main themes of this year’s conference are questions about the pleasure and the usefulness. That games can be pleasant – all would probably agree, but what does this pleasure consist in? And if games are useful – then in what way, for whom, in what circumstances? When does the pleasure go together with usefulness and when do they become sworn enemies? And perhaps the pleasure that games deliver is useful in its own right?

We hope that the discussion on these and other issues will deepen our knowledge about games and will open new fields of discussions about them, among other things, thanks to the point of contact of many different horizons: scholars, game designers, journalists, players. We cordially invite anyone interested – see you in Poznań!