This chapter discusses the creation of the "Digital Natives? Saami Games Now!" exhibition, which highlights a decade of Saami Game Design. Since 2014, I have been deeply involved in Saami games. Over the years, I have organized game design workshops ranging from small local Arctic events to large global Indigenous gatherings. More than a hundred game developers have created over 40 games during this period. The first years of this journey were documented in my doctoral thesis “Old Ways of Knowing, New Ways of Playing – The Potential of Collaborative Game Design to Empower Indigenous Sámi” (Laiti 2021). As the work continued, it became evident that highlighting all the games created was, at least, equally important.
In 2024, I curated the exhibition “Digital Natives? Saami Games Now!,” highlighting a decade worth of work in Saami Game Design. The exhibition debuted during the Night of the Arts in Helsinki at Kumma Gallery (figure 1.) and was part of Helsinki Design Week.
The exhibition featured five playable games (figure 2.), including professional industry pieces like Skábma – Snowfall by Red Stage Entertainment (2022) and Raanaa – The Shaman Girl by Miksapix Interactive (2019). Additionally, it included a ten-minute video reel with snippets of all documented games and their designers from the past ten years, pictures, designer comments, and design inspiration themes from the Saami Game Jam event (Saami Game Jam 2025). The exhibition material was multilingual, primarily in English and North Saami, with some content in Skolt Saami and Inari Saami for those brave enough to play the games.
Up next, I will briefly outline the background of the exhibition, highlighting the extensive efforts of the past decade that led to its creation. Following that, I will delve into my objectives for the exhibition and provide insights into key curation details. Lastly, I will explore future research directions and discuss the potential impact this exhibition will have on advancing the field.
Digitalization has profoundly impacted Saami culture, presenting both opportunities and challenges. My focus has been on the positive aspects, particularly in empowering Indigenous communities to foster cultural pride and continuity in game design (Laiti 2021). On a broader scale, digitalization has facilitated the preservation and sharing of cultural heritage through digital archives, storytelling platforms, and educational tools, making traditions, languages, and histories more accessible locally and globally (Loban 2023). However, challenges such as cultural appropriation, erosion, and loss of control over sacred information are not new in Indigenous histories (cf. Byrne 2021, Loban 2023).
Additionally, the digital divide limits access for some communities, which is a disadvantage if they wish to utilize digital technologies. Specifically, there is a hint of a digital divide between Saami people and non-Saami populations in Fennoscandia, where nation states may lead global technological development but lack culturally relevant digital content for the Saami, affecting their ability to fully engage with digital technologies. However, this is not straightforward: as far as I know, the earliest Saami digital games were designed in the 1980s, and Saami game design has been evolving ever since, following technological leaps such as the widespread popularity of home computers like the Commodore 64, the rise of the internet, mobile technologies, and smartphones. The tricky part is to trace these games, as they are not archived anywhere.
Creating games is an act of cultural preservation, but it is not a comprehensive archiving strategy. Without proper archiving, these games age and eventually disappear. This issue is tied to historical erasure, where the design and very existence of Saami games and play have been significantly impacted by colonization and assimilation policies aimed at erasing Saami nature relations and perspectives (Borvo 2001). Failing to preserve these games is an act of self-colonization, a conscious decision to let them fade away.
When I began my research journey in 2014, the number of publicly available digital games was small. This coincided with the rapid global growth of Finnish gaming companies like Rovio and Supercell. Meanwhile, small Saami communities were contemplating how to use games for language revitalization and who should create these games. This sparked something that would later become a chain reaction: we should not only make games but also develop Saami game developers to establish Saami gaming companies, thereby creating new livelihoods in the Arctic rural areas. Consequently, we started planning game development workshops in Ohcejohka municipality, the northernmost municipality in Finland with a Saami majority. The exhibition is based on the games produced in the following game design workshops:
• Game development workshop with Ludocraft (5.-6.3.2016)
• Nuorten peliohjelmointikurssi (24.-28.7.2017)
• Sami Game Jam (21.-25.8.2018)
• Skins Workshops: Interactive storytelling with Twine (3.-4.1.2023)
• Skins Workshops: Game Design with Bitsy (5.1.2023)
• Skins Workshops: Imagining Indigenous Worlds with Unity (5.-9.6.2023)
The Saami Game Jam is the cornerstone of this exhibition. It is a series of rapid-paced game development events where Saami and non-Saami game developers come together to create games in teams inspired by themes introduced on the spot. The first Saami Game Jam, organized in 2018, presented twelve themes, each highlighting various aspects of Saami culture and challenges. These themes inspired participants to create games reflecting the Saami experience, such as the trauma of assimilation policies, learning through traditional stories, resilience through art and words, blending traditional knowledge with modern skills, and the loss of cultural roots in institutional care. These themes led to the creation of six games that explore the diverse and dynamic nature of Saami culture. The design framework of Saami Game Jam and Nuorten peliohjelmointikurssi were also introduced in my thesis (Laiti 2021), and the games have inspired subsequent research, including Sámi Perspectives on Nature in Rievssat (Nijdam 2021; 2022; 2023) and Indigenous game design journey towards sovereignty (LaPensée, Laiti, and Longboat 2022). The themes, the games (also freely available online at itch.io), and even some of the alternative controllers created during the first Saami Game Jam were on display in the exhibition.
The Skins Workshops, organized by Aboriginal Territories in Cyberspace (AbTeC), are noteworthy for empowering Indigenous youth to preserve their heritage and become digital media creators by transforming community stories into video games and other modern technologies. (Skins 2025). This exhibition highlights the Skins Workshop series, organized in collaboration with the municipality of Ohcejohka (Utsjoki, Finland) in 2023, which aimed to enhance local Saami sovereign game creation and foster global Indigenous collaboration. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the first two workshops were held online via Discord, a popular communication platform in gaming communities. Led by the Skins workshops team in Canada, the sessions were scheduled to accommodate both Eastern European and Canadian time zones. Held in January during the polar night and winter school holidays, the workshops ran from 15:00 to 18:00 (EET), making them accessible to children on vacation and working adults. The third workshop, "Imagining Indigenous Worlds with Unity," took place in person when the Skins team visited Ohcejohka in early summer 2023. This week-long workshop became an Indigenous gathering of curious minds exploring Indigenous futurisms in Unity. While the games produced in this workshop remain private, the exhibition offers glimpses of the imaginative worlds created.
I had multiple goals in mind for this exhibition. Firstly, Indigenous people have a rich and unique history of making and playing games, and the Saami are no exception. Saami games like board game Sáhkku (Borvo 2001) and Päʹskksiõrr (Kuáti 2025), a Skolt Saami game played with reindeer toe bones, are museum-friendly artifacts that can easily be displayed. However, play itself has little space in museums. Digital games need a space where they can be played, requiring both space and resources. This exhibition aimed to provide a platform for Saami digital games, highlighting this vibrant aspect of a culture that does not thrive in traditional museum settings.
Secondly, the exhibition was strategically organized in the heart of old Helsinki at the end of the summer tourist season. Practical reasons included the opportunity itself, as suggested by Annakaisa Kultima, the owner of Kumma Gallery. We had previously organized the Saami Game Jam, a game development workshop in Utsjoki, in 2018 and had envisioned an exhibition following the event. It took us six years to bring this exhibition to life alongside our other commitments. Kumma Gallery was accessible for me, making practicality a significant factor. Visibility was crucial: displaying contemporary Saaminess in the urban capital of Finland, where the visible face of Northern Finland is still often represented by outdated Lapland souvenirs. The exhibition aimed to serve as a contrast to these stereotypes.
Thirdly, an exhibition is a way to reach wider audiences, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous. Although many of these games are available online for free, accessing them requires internet, hardware and skills. A public exhibition lowers the threshold for learning about games as a medium, how Saami game developers have utilized digital spaces, and how research fits into this framework. Guided play is a form of education with potential across various age groups.
Finally, curating an exhibition of digital games is an act of cultural preservation akin to creating Indigenous games. Indigenous game design is participatory and culturally informed (Laiti 2025; Loban 2023; Shiri, Howard, and Farnel 2021) and thus preserves a lot of community knowledge. However, there is a gap when preservation covers only the successful pieces and even those for a limited time as they are bound to creative technologies in the moment (cf. Eklund, Sjöblom and Prax 2019). An exhibition allows us to preserve more than just the games as tangible outcomes; we can also preserve the context in which these games were created, including the mistakes made during their development. Failure is a solid part of this exhibition when not all games are playable. This information about failure is valuable but often overlooked.
Quantity is a goal I rarely pursue for several reasons. If I were focused on impact numbers, I would not be in Indigenous game research, as it does not yield high impact regardless of effort. I have also lost count of the workshops I have organized, and the games created, but I know I have authored fewer academic articles than I have organized game design workshops. I choose not to turn everything into a self-marketing campaign or asset because not every action needs to be academically published. Partly, this is an individualistic reaction to systemic issues. The number of visitors hints at popularity but does not necessarily reflect my personal goals. The impact is elsewhere.
I have little experience in curating exhibitions. My strength was in storying this exhibition, whereas Annakaisa did most of the space planning and layouts. Luckily, we already had the core of this exhibition created in Saami Game Jam, but expanding that to a full exhibition was so much work that I was reaching my limits more than once. However, seeing the exhibition come together and witnessing the results provided a cathartic release of emotions tied to the origins of the games on display. Organizing game design events is stressful (cf. Kultima and Laiti 2019), and I realized that these emotions were not adequately addressed when an event concluded. When creating the exhibition, there was much joy in reflecting on the people I had the privilege to work with, as well as grief for those who had passed away. These, and many more emotions found an outlet in the exhibition, continuing my close and personal working style.
Executing this exhibition continued the budget-friendly DIY approach first embraced during the planning of the Saami Game Jam in 2017. At the time, we needed a lávvu—a portable dwelling traditionally used by Saami reindeer herders—because it provided the perfect setting for education and reflective discussions during the game creation process. With over 50 participants, we required a large lávvu to accommodate everyone. The most affordable option was a lávvu borrowed from a Norwegian library, thanks to the library card of one of the organizers (Kultima and Laiti, 2019).
For this exhibition, we set out to create a window sticker featuring the Reahpenráigi-logo, designed by Sofi Kurtti for the first Saami Game Jam. The logo perfectly encapsulated the themes we wanted to emphasize: Saami cultural-centered design, equality in creation, and more. Working with a limited budget once again, we turned to libraries for support. This time, we used the DIY tools at Oodi, Helsinki's central library, specifically its urban workshop's large-format printer, capable of producing stickers up to 130 cm wide. With a library card, we booked a time slot for the printer, which is highly popular for printing large posters. This gave us a single opportunity to print the sticker.
Challenges arose as we prepared the layout file to fit the printer's format. Once the file was adjusted and printing began, we discovered that the original image was not created with vector graphics, resulting in pixelation. Without time for a reprint, we embraced the pixelated look as a nod to pixel art, aligning it with the exhibition's style (Figure 3.).
Installing the sticker presented further obstacles. We underestimated the complexities of applying a window sticker, and the result was a wrinkled surface with visible air bubbles—just an hour before the exhibition was set to open. Armed with a needle and plenty of determination, we managed to make the sticker presentable. Despite the hurdles, this solution aligned with our commitment to creativity and cost efficiency – the price of the window sticker was 13,50 €. No one calculates the working hours and their price, and as we know, sweat is still free.
Finally, it was time to open the exhibition to the public. Due to the limited personal resources, I had forgotten to invite people to the exhibition opening and to advertise the exhibition in general. I had made a website for the exhibition in saamigamejam.com so that people could read more about the pieces in English, North Saami, and Finnish. Luckily, Annakaisa had information channels we used to invite people at the same time we were putting the exhibition in place. During my exhibition shifts, I encountered people who were surprised and amazed. The depth of reflection in each piece is beyond words; experiencing these games does them justice. People unfamiliar with games as a medium were particularly impressed by the sheer scale of the phenomenon, especially seeing the work of nearly 100 developers on display in various forms. Additionally, the idea of Indigenous people developing games may not align with traditional perceptions of Indigenous cultures. Games are often framed as leisure activities that consume too much time and are part of Western consumerism. Some believe that technology diminishes Indigenous cultures by bringing "them" closer to "us," thereby eroding romanticized and primitive images of otherness. Exhibition shifts allowed me to highlight contemporary Saaminess, enabling a wider audience to reflect on their emotions and knowledge regarding this theme.
Despite having multiple goals, I defined the exhibition as a success. The most significant indicator of success was simple: it happened. We managed to provide a platform for Saami digital games at the strategic location in the heart of Helsinki and create a playful exhibition experience for many visitors. The timing during Night of the Arts, Helsinki Festival and Helsinki Design Week was experimental. We did not aim for large audiences; the gallery was small, and our operating hours were limited due to other responsibilities. This, combined with the limited resources in promotion and outreach, led to a modest number of visitors. We tried to keep track of visitors but lost count at some point. However, the exhibition had around 30-50 visitors; the research website saamigamejam.com got 1612 views, and the exhibition website got 266 views. This is enough in line in reaching wider audiences and on the limits of my capacity as well. The most important thing for me was the cultural preservation we did when creating this exhibition: it has the potential to continue reaching wider audiences now that it exists.
The end of the exhibition felt like closure for a decade's worth of work. While it marked an end, it also signaled a beginning through the creative and playful work involved in curating the exhibition. The biggest personal revelation was recognizing my hidden potential in creative work, which I should explore further in my future endeavors. I have been intrigued by Indigenous Futurism research (Dillon 2012) and imagining what Saami futurisms could look like. This was the starting point of the exhibition: while social sciences focus on "what is", design allows us to ask, "what could be?" aligning with the research through design approach (Frayling 1994). Curating this exhibition inspired many questions about the future of Saami design in architecture, crafts, and beyond, as well as my personal role in research and future working methods. Many Indigenous game developers are also game designers and effectively bridge the gap between academic research and practical game development. However, to enhance the preservation of culturally-centered design, we need approaches that capture insights gained during the game development process. Game design workshops are one method to produce this knowledge but organizing them requires significant effort. Perhaps it is time for me to transition from the role of organizer and creatively explore these themes within smaller-scale game design teams. This shift would allow me to explore my creative potential and experience joy in research.
The dedicated exhibition team includes:
• Curator: Outi Laiti
• Graphics and Layout: Annakaisa Kultima
• Logo Design: Sofi Kurtti
• Saami Game Jam 2018 Themes: Marjaana Auranen, Outi Laiti, Vuokko Hirvonen, Inker-Anni Linkola-Aikio, Christopher Hamilton
• Translations: Ilona Kivinen and Outi Laiti
This exhibition is made possible with the support of the Kone Foundation project Biocultural Heritage and Non-Linear Time.
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