Hi, I’m Laurie.
I study why games make us feel things — the tension of a raid gone wrong, the quiet gut-punch of a single-player ending, the strange loyalty we build toward a guild we’ve never met in person.
I’m a media scientist working in game studies and affect theory. In plain terms: I research the emotional, social, and cultural life of games — the ones you play alone, and the ones you play with (or against) others.
You won’t find dense theory-speak here. My goal is to take research that usually stays locked up in academic journals and turn it into something clear, useful, and honestly a little fun to read. If you’ve ever finished a game and thought “why did that hit so hard?” — you’ve already asked the kind of question that drives my research.
This site is where I share that work: articles, essays, and deep dives into the mechanics, emotions, and moments that stick with me longer than they probably should.
Quick facts
- Plays across genres, solo and multiplayer
- Triathlete — swim, bike, run, repeat
- Bilingual: German & English
- Based in Austria
How I Got Here
A Few More Things
- World of Warcraft consumed more hours of her life than she'd like to admit — from its 2005 European launch through an intense stretch between 2009 and 2012. She's now fully retired from Azeroth.
- She has been a triathlete since 2015, racing up to Olympic distance and earning a silver medal at the Austrian Sprint Triathlon Nationals. Turns out endurance sports and boss fights trigger surprisingly similar emotions.
- English is the language she loves and adores. She regularly catches herself thinking in it, finding that certain ideas are just easier — and far more elegantly — expressed that way.
- Vegan and always happy to discuss or recommend plant-based recipes.