Melissa Kagen teaches and conducts research into gaming, interactive storytelling, escape rooms, immersive performance, and walking simulators. As the author of Wandering Games, she can speak about the history and meaning of the use of wandering in games, as well as the role of work, gender, colonialism, and death in influencing our understanding of wandering in digital spaces. Kagen has provided analysis on games for The New York Times and The Guardian. Her work with WPI students in the development of interactive spaces featuring elements of cozy games and escape rooms has been featured in the Telegram & Gazette and Spectrum News 1.