CSI Skill Tree: Signs of the Sojourner

Skill Tree

CSI Skill Tree is a series from the Center for Science and the Imagination that examines and celebrates how video games envision possible futures, build rich and thought-provoking worlds, and engage people as active participants in unfolding and interpreting stories. Our guests include game developers, scholars, critics and journalists, science fiction authors, and other interesting people working at the intersection of technological change and story craft.

All of our previous episodes are available on demand on our YouTube playlist for the series.

Banner image for CSI Skill Tree: Signs of the Sojourner. On the left side, headshots of Leigh Alexander and Mia Armstrong-López. On the right side, a screenshot from the game, showing a person against a desert backdrop and a hand of stylized cards in the foreground.

CSI Skill Tree: Signs of the Sojourner

with Leigh Alexander and Mia Armstrong-López

Banner image for CSI Skill Tree: Mass Effect: Andromeda. On the left side, headshots of Bodhisattva Chattopadhyay and Souvik Mukherjee. On the right side, a screenshot from the game, showing a futuristic settlement on an alien planet.

CSI Skill Tree: Mass Effect: Andromeda

with Souvik Mukherjee & Bodhisattva Chattopadhyay

Banner image for CSI Skill Tree: Game Localization. On the left side, headshots of Emily Xueni Jin and Siyang Gao. On the right side, a pixel-art image in purple of a mountain at night, with a purple starry sky.

CSI Skill Tree: Game Localization

with Siyang Gao & Emily Xueni Jin

Banner image for CSI Skill Tree: Hypnospace Outlaw. On the left side, headshots of Katherine Buse and Ranjodh Singh Dhaliwal. On the right side, a screenshot from the game, showing the interface of a retro 1990s-era website.

CSI Skill Tree: Hypnospace Outlaw

with Ranjodh Singh Dhaliwal & Katherine Buse

Banner image for CSI Skill Tree: Citizen Sleeper. On the left side, headshots of Phoebe Wagner and Gareth Damian Martin. On the right side, art from the game, showing spaceships and cyberpunk architecture against a pink sky.

CSI Skill Tree: Citizen Sleeper

with Gareth Damian Martin & Phoebe Wagner

CSI Skill Tree banner, featuring a screenshot from the game Mutazione, showing a woman and an older man sitting next to a rooftop garden. Superimposed on the image are headshots of our guest speakers, Pamela Carralero and Matthew Derby.

CSI Skill Tree: Mutazione

with Pamela Carralero & Matthew Derby

CSI Skill Tree banner, featuring a screenshot from the game Inside, showing a small person peering up into the light in a cavernous indoor environment. Superimposed on the image are headshots of our guest speakers, Amos Roddy and Tochi Onyebuchi.

CSI Skill Tree: Sound and Worldbuilding in Video Games

with Amos Roddy & Tochi Onyebuchi

CSI Skill Tree banner, featuring a screenshot from the game Cloud Gardens, showing plants overgrowing an abandoned car and other refuse. Superimposed on the image are headshots of our guest speakers, Ken Liu and Liz Fiacco.

CSI Skill Tree: Cloud Gardens

with Ken Liu & Izzy Fiacco

Banner image for CSI Skill Tree: Outer Wilds. On the left side, headshots of Randy Smith and Luc Riesbeck. On the right side, a screenshot from the game, showing a first-person image from inside a spaceship, nearing a planet.

CSI Skill Tree: Outer Wilds

with Randy Smith & Luc Riesbeck

A screenshot from the video game Kentucky Route Zero, showing a cabin, viewed from above, under a floodlight in what looks to be a museum or gallery space. In the foreground, we can see shadowy beams holding up lighting. Superimposed on the image are headshots for the special guests at this event, Zoyander Street and Rachel Carr.

CSI Skill Tree: Kentucky Route Zero

with Zoyander Street & Rachel Carr

An image of a scientific interface, in blue and yellow, over a turquoise bathymetric map. The interface shows various gauges, data readouts, and controls in a stylized, icon-centric manner.

CSI Skill Tree: In Other Waters

with Lisa Yin Han & Hilairy Hartnett

Banner image for CSI Skill Tree: Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri. On the left side, headshots of Bodhisattva Chattopadhyay and Arkady Martine. On the right side, a screenshot from the game, showing a futuristic city built on a tile-based map.

CSI Skill Tree: Sid Meier’s Alpha Centauri

with Bodhisattva Chattopadhyay & Arkady Martine

CSI Skill Tree: 80 Days and Africa & Africans in Video Games

with Deji Bryce Olukotun

Banner image for CSI Skill Tree: Time and Emotion in Video Games. On the left side, headshots of Tochi Onyebuchi and Jessica L. Conditt. On the right side, a screenshot from the Flower, showing two flower petals drifting in the wind.

CSI Skill Tree: Time and Emotion in Video Games

with Jessica L. Conditt & Tochi Onyebuchi

Banner image for CSI Skill Tree: Waking Mars. On the left side, headshots of Katherine Buse and Steven Desch. On the right side, a screenshot from the game, showing a person in a spacesuit climbing an incline.

CSI Skill Tree: Waking Mars

with Katherine Buse & Steven Desch

Banner image for CSI Skill Tree: Subsurface Circular. On the left side, headshots of Izzy Fiacco and Malik Toms. On the right side, a screenshot from the game, showing two blocky humanoid robots sitting next to one another.

CSI Skill Tree: Subsurface Circular

with Izzy Fiacco & Malik Toms