Overview: Research Through Design
Welcome to our unit on Research Through Design! We will discuss ways to design and iterate role-playing games, but also how to take that process a step further and engage in formalized analysis of the process through academic writing. Furthermore, you will focus on designing your game during this unit.
In this Unit, we will cover:
- Basic Design
- Restrictions
- Playtesting
- Introduction to Research Through Design
- Game Design Documents and Playtest Plans
Note: Some of the materials below may not be available outside of this course. We have linked resources that are open access. Do not distribute PDFs.
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Required materials:
Readings:
- Bowman, Sarah Lynne, Simon Brind, Elektra Diakolambrianou, Kjell Hedgard Hugaas, Guus Quinten van Tilborg, Josephine Baird, and Alessandro Giovannucci. In review. “Chapter 4: Practice: Transformative Role-playing Game Design and Research.” In Transformative Role-playing Game Design, edited by Sarah Lynne Bowman, Elektra Diakolambrianou, and Simon Brind, 111-146. Transformative Play Research Series. Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis, Uppsala University Press.
- Bowman, Sarah Lynne, Josephine Baird, Kjell Hedgard Hugaas, Elektra Diakolambrianou, and Taisto Suominen. In review. “Chapter 7: Research in Transformative Game Design.” In Transformative Role-playing Game Design, edited by Sarah Lynne Bowman, Elektra Diakolambrianou, and Simon Brind, 226-253. Transformative Play Research Series. Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis, Uppsala University Press.
Videos:
- Westborg, Josefin. 2022. “Basic Design.” Transformative Play Initiative. YouTube, July 10.
- Westborg, Josefin. 2022. “Design Restrictions.” Transformative Play Initiative. YouTube, July 10.
- Westborg, Josefin. 2022. “Game Design: Worked Example.” Transformative Play Initiative. YouTube, July 10.
- Westborg, Josefin. 2023. “How to Be a Good Playtester.” Transformative Play Initiative. YouTube, July 6.
- Westborg, Josefin. 2023. “Playtesting.” Transformative Play Initiative. YouTube, July 6.
Readings:
- Nielsen, Martin, and Martin Andresen, et al. 2016. “The Mixing Desk of Larp.” Larpwriter Summer School, July.
Choose one (1) resource from the Research Through Design Methods Bibliography:
Readings:
- Coulton, Paul, and Alan Hook. 2017. “Games Design Research through Game Design Practice.” In Game Research: Theory and Practice, edited by Petri Lankowski and Jussi Holopainen, 97-116. Carnegie Mellon University: ETC Press.
- Kucic, Matt. 2005. “How to Prototype a Game in Under 7 Days.” Game Developer, October 26.
- Zimmerman, John, and Jodi Forlizzi. 2014. ”Research Through Design in HCI.” In Ways of Knowing HCI, edited by Judith S. Olson and Wendy A. Kellogg, 167-189. Springer.
Audio:
- Gingold, Chaim, and Chris Hecker. “Advanced Prototyping.” GDC Vault.