PLAY+ is a scoping and feasibility study exploring how games and playful activities might support pleasure-positive harm reduction and recovery pathways for people affected by chemsex.
Working with Impulse London, people with lived experience, clinicians and researchers, the project uses interviews and co-design workshops to identify feasible ways of integrating game-based approaches alongside existing support services.
Chemsex is an important public health issue in London, disproportionately affecting parts of the LGBTQI+ community, particularly gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men. For many people, it can be associated with challenges for physical and mental health, sexual wellbeing, relationships and community connectedness. PLAY+ responds to the need for community-centred approaches that complement existing care by exploring whether games and playful activities could support pleasure-positive harm reduction and recovery pathways.
Developed in partnership with the LGBTQI+ charity Impulse London, the project brings together people with lived experience, clinicians, researchers and community practitioners to identify feasible ways of integrating game-based approaches alongside existing support services, informing future intervention development and strengthening collaborative, community-informed responses to chemsex.
LAY+ is among the first studies to explore how games and playful activities might contribute to chemsex harm reduction and recovery. Rather than testing a predefined intervention, it is a scoping and feasibility study that co-designs potential game-based approaches with people with lived experience, clinicians, researchers and the LGBTQI+ charity partner Impulse London. Drawing on contemporary play theory and interdisciplinary expertise across game studies, psychology and public health, PLAY+ explores how play can foster agency, social connection and more intentional relationships with pleasure.
By viewing games as structured social practices where rules, effort, challenge and emotional investment shape meaningful experiences, the project investigates how playful activities might help cultivate alternative forms of pleasure, belonging and support alongside existing services, establishing an evidence base for future intervention development.
Background
PLAY+ is a scoping and feasibility study investigating how games and playful activities might contribute to pleasure-positive harm reduction and recovery pathways for people with lived experience of chemsex. Led by Dr Ivan Girina (Brunel University London) in collaboration with Dr Alessandro Valerio Tridico (Arden University) and the LGBTQI+ charity Impulse London, the project explores how ludic (game- and play-based) interventions could complement existing support services by fostering alternative forms of sociality and more intentional relationships with pleasure.
Research Questions
- To what extent, and under what conditions, can playing games support chemsex harm reduction and recovery pathways?
- How does playing games shape relationships with pleasure through effort, learning, agency and social commitment, and how might these inform different relationships with pleasure for people who engage in chemsex?
Innovation
PLAY+ combines contemporary play theory with psychology and public health to explore play as a meaningful social practice rather than simply recreation. Through rules, challenge, cooperation, competition and emotional investment, games organise experiences of pleasure grounded in participation, learning, agency and shared experience. Rather than evaluating a predefined intervention, the project uses co-design to explore where, when and how ludic interventions may become meaningful within existing support pathways.
Methodology and Impact
The project began with semi-structured interviews with people with lived experience of chemsex, clinicians and community practitioners, exploring experiences of play, pleasure, sociality, recovery and the potential role of games within support services. Following preliminary thematic analysis, selected participants joined collaborative workshops to refine the themes, identify priorities and co-design feasible ludic approaches for harm reduction and recovery.
The project will produce design principles for future ludic interventions, strengthen collaboration between researchers, services and community organisations, and lay the foundations for larger-scale research and implementation.
Meet the Principal Investigator(s) for the project
Dr Ivan Girina - Ivan Girina is a Senior Lecturer in Game Studies and holds a PhD in Film and Television Studies from the University of Warwick, his research is currently focused on digital games asethetic, particualrly its relationship with cinema and larger visual media landscapes. Ivan is also co-founder and member of the Editorial Board of the international academic journal G|A|M|E – Games as Art, Media and Entertainment. He has published on a variety of topics such as: cinematic games; video game agency; film and new media; media literacy and education; and Italian regional cinema.
Related Research Group(s)
Global Lives - Research conducted in the Centre addresses the challenges facing society, helping to change the lives of people around the world by bringing economic, social and cultural benefits.
Harm and Justice Research Group - The Harm and Justice Research Group brings together a diverse group of researchers, advocates, and practitioners from across the University who work on issues of harm and justice.
Religion research group - The Brunel University of London's Religion Research Group (RRG) is a transdisciplinary group of scholars working on diverse dimensions of religion.
Partnering with confidence
Organisations interested in our research can partner with us with confidence backed by an external and independent benchmark: The Knowledge Exchange Framework. Read more.
Project last modified 31/07/2026