Students will continue their learning of Research Methods for Games; they will continue to develop their understanding of:

Academic writing

Game research methods

Qualitative and quantitative approaches for studying games

Mixed methods

Games Testing

Games Portfolios

Games Deliverables

Assessment Component 1 - (Learning Outcomes 1 and 2)

A Games Related Literature Review weighted at 50% consisting of:

You will conduct a research investigation into a games-related topic of your choosing. The literature review will be 2500 words in length

Assessment Component 2 - (Learning Outcomes 3 and 4)

A portfolio Deliverable weighted at 50% consisting of:

You will create a deliverable related to the Literature Review posted to the Digital Academy Forum. The indicative guide is that this should be roughly 2500 words.

1 x 1 hr lecture / 1 hr workshop

1. Evaluate contemporary research at the forefront of a games related discipline.

Knowledge and Understanding

2. Critically analyse current research showing advanced scholarship of advanced games research within an industry setting.

Analysis

3. Apply knowledge and understanding of games software and methodologies to construct and evaluate effective solutions to complex problems.

Problem Solving

4. Critically evaluate and apply research to your own body of work

Communication

Reference to the Module welcome page for study guidance.

Access to Staffordshire University library.

Access to internet sources through Staffordshire University library.

Provision as appropriate of case materials by tutor and / or external organisations.

The Blackboard virtual learning environment will be available to support this module.

Details will be supplied on the Module Welcome page.

Software:¿

Digital Academy Forum

IBM SPSS

Digital Academy Uploads

Adobe Photoshop

Pixologic ZBrush

Autodesk 3DS Max

Autodesk Maya

Autodesk Fusion 360

3D Coat

Substance Designer

Substance Painter

Unreal Engine 5

Internet access

Blackboard

Jira \ Confluence

MS Planner

Github Desktop \ P4V

Drachen, A., Mirza-Babaei, P., & Nacke, L. (Eds.). (2018). Games User Research.

Lankoski, P., & Bjork, S. (2015). Game research methods: An overview. Morrisville, NC: Lulu.com.

Bromley, S. (2021). How to be a games user researcher. Independently Published.

Brathwaite, B., & Schreiber, I. (2008). Challenges for game designers. Hingham, MA: Charles River Media.

Gazaway, D. (2021). Introduction to game systems design. Philadelphia, PA: Pearson Education.

Engelstein, G., & Shalev, I. (2022). Building blocks of tabletop game design (2nd ed.). London, England: CRC Press.

Fullerton, T. (2018). Game design workshop (4th ed.). London, England: CRC Press.

De Nucci, E., & Kramarzewski, A. (2018). Practical game design. Birmingham, England: Packt Publishing.

Macklin, C., & Sharp, J. (2016). Games, design and play. Addison-Wesley Professional.

Cleland D. I. and Ireland L. (2006), Project management: Strategic design and implementation, 5th Ed., McGraw-Hill.

Reiss, G. (2013). Project management demystified (2nd ed.), Taylor & Francis.

Wisker, G. (2008). The Postgraduate Research Handbook, Palgrave.

Gray, D. E. (2013). Doing research in the real world (3rd ed.). Christchurch, New Zealand: Sage

Publications.

Explore core competencies for delivering high impact projects within Games Development. Managing a project, moving forwards with concepting and communicating requirements, having a clear awareness of dependencies at multiple levels of your team requires advanced leadership skills. Research method aims to develop the necessary skills and knowledge for formulating a research problem and deliver it as a substantive proposal or work.