The Saami (also Sámi or Sami) are the Indigenous people of the northern regions of Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia, a territory traditionally known as Sápmi. Their rich history and culture is deeply intertwined with the Arctic environment.
These are the 12 themes introduced at the very first Sami Game Jam.
The first draft of these themes was created in Jam Jam at Sappee (2017) by Marjaana Auranen, Outi Laiti and Annakaisa Kultima. Later on, the draft was commented by Professor Emerita Vuokko Hirvonen, and Dr. Inker-Anni Linkola-Aikio. The final polishing was done by Marjaana Auranen and Christopher Hamilton.
The teams had full freedom to create and interpret the themes in the way that they saw fitting.
Here are some media pieces from around the world reporting on our game design journey!
Our work have also inspired researchers!
Laiti, O.K. (2025). DIGITAL NATIVES? SAAMI GAMES NOW! Exhibition Highlights Indigenous Voices in Game Development. In Kantonen, L., Guttorm, H., Kantonen, P., & Falin, P. (2025). Parallel indigeneities, art worlds and frictions. RUUKKU: Studies in Artistic Research, 22.
Nijdam, E. “Biz.” (2023). Recentering Indigenous Epistemologies Through Digital Games: Sámi Perspectives on Nature in Rievssat (2018). Games and Culture, 18(1), 27–41. https://doi.org/10.1177/15554120211068086
LaPensée, E. A., Laiti, O., & Longboat, M. (2022). Towards Sovereign Games. Games and Culture, 17(3), 328-343.
Nijdam E. (2022). Recentering Indigenous Epistemologies Through Digital Games: Sámi Perspectives on Nature in Rievssat (2018). Games and Culture. 10.1177/15554120211068086. 18:1. (27-41). Online publication date: 1-Jan-2023.
http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/15554120211068086
Laiti, O. (2021). Old ways of knowing, new ways of playing—the potential of collaborative game design to empower Indigenous Sámi. Doctoral dissertation. University of Lapland. Rovaniemi, Finland. https://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-337-249-8
Laiti, O., Harrer, S., Uusiautti, S., & Kultima, A. (2021). Sustaining intangible heritage through video game storytelling-the case of the Sami Game Jam. International Journal of Heritage Studies, 27(3), 296-311.
Kultima, A., & Laiti, O. (2019, August). Sami Game Jam-Learning, Exploring, Reflecting and Sharing Indigenous Culture through Game Jamming. In DiGRA Conference.
