Run by School of Arts, Culture and Language

20.000 Credits or 10.000 ECTS Credits

Semester 2

Organiser: Dr Eben Muse

You will work as part of a small, creative team to develop a single, playable prototype of a computer game as well as a business plan for its production. This game will allow you to demonstrate the skills and creative understanding you have developed during the past two years. You will develop and present an initial proposal early in the semester. Following feedback from your peers and the course leader, and working in collaboration with your team, you will spend the following weeks prototyping the proposed game and producing a plan for its production, funding and marketing.

• Interdisciplinary development
• Design models and processes
• Structure of the game industry
• Business and entrepreneurial models
• Business planning
• Teamwork & Tools for team management
• Intellectual property rights
• Indie Game production

good

Good (C- to B+)

• Strong knowledge of key areas/principles
• Understanding of theoretical underpinnings
• Evidence of background study
• Limited original interpretation
• Well known links between topics are described
• Problems addressed by existing methods/approaches
• Good presentation with accurate communication

excellent

Excellent (A- to A**)

• Comprehensive knowledge
• Detailed understanding
• Extensive background study
• Original interpretation
• New links between topics are developed
• New approach to a problem
• Excellent presentation with very accurate communication

threshold

Threshold (D- to D+)

• Knowledge of key areas/principles only
• Weaknesses in understanding of main areas
• Limited evidence of background study
• No original interpretation
• Only major links between topics are described
• Limited problem solving
• Many weaknesses in presentation and accuracy

1. Ideate, critically evaluate, and communicate design and production options, values and affordances

2. Develop a business plan for a game start-up that includes a value proposition, business structure and revenue stream

3. Work effectively as part of a creative team and provide constructive evaluations of the performance of that team and its members

4. Identify intellectual property issues, prevent infringement of other's intellectual property rights, and critical evaluate options for protecting IP and commercialisation

5. Make design decisions that reflect critical understanding of the interaction of gameplay, narrative, and aesthetic elements of video games

6. Research and evaluate funding pathways and investment potential for a game design

		Hours
Study group	Team meetings, chaired, minuted and run by team members, held weekly throughout the semester. Discussion, decisions and action points will be minuted.	11
Private study	Work individually or with other team members to develop game design, project plan and game prototype	167
Seminar	Weekly introduction and discussion of game and entrepreneurial design topics	11
Supervised time in studio/workshop	Weekly cross-team workshop sessions	11

• Literacy - Proficiency in reading and writing through a variety of media
• Numeracy - Proficiency in using numbers at appropriate levels of accuracy
• Computer Literacy - Proficiency in using a varied range of computer software
• Self-Management - Able to work unsupervised in an efficient, punctual and structured manner. To examine the outcomes of tasks and events, and judge levels of quality and importance
• Exploring - Able to investigate, research and consider alternatives
• Information retrieval - Able to access different and multiple sources of information
• Inter-personal - Able to question, actively listen, examine given answers and interact sensitevely with others
• Critical analysis & Problem Solving - Able to deconstruct and analyse problems or complex situations. To find solutions to problems through analyses and exploration of all possibilities using appropriate methods, rescources and creativity.
• Safety-Consciousness - Having an awareness of your immediate environment, and confidence in adhering to health and safety regulations
• Presentation - Able to clearly present information and explanations to an audience. Through the written or oral mode of communication accurately and concisely.
• Teamwork - Able to constructively cooperate with others on a common task, and/or be part of a day-to-day working team
• Mentoring - Able to support, help, guide, inspire and/or coach others
• Caring - Showing concern for others; caring for children, people with disabilities and/or the elderly
• Management - Able to utilise, coordinate and control resources (human, physical and/or financial)
• Argument - Able to put forward, debate and justify an opinion or a course of action, with an individual or in a wider group setting
• Self-awareness & Reflectivity - Having an awareness of your own strengths, weaknesses, aims and objectives. Able to regularly review, evaluate and reflect upon the performance of yourself and others
• Leadership - Able to lead and manage, develop action plans and objectives, offer guidance and direction to others, and cope with the related pressures such authority can result in

• An understanding of creative and critical processes, and of the wide range of skills inherent in creative writing. (NAWE Creative Writing Benchmark Statement 3.1).
• An awareness of writing and publishing contexts, opportunities and audiences in the wider world (NAWE Creative Writing Benchmark Statement 3.1).
• Artistic engagement and ability to articulate complex ideas in oral and written forms. (NAWE Creative Writing Benchmark Statement 3.2).
• Ability to connect creative and critical ideas between and among forms, techniques and types of creative and critical praxis. (NAWE Creative Writing Benchmark Statement 3.2; English Benchmark Statement 3.2).
• Reflective practitioner skills, including awareness of the practice of others in collaborative learning (NAWE Creative Writing Benchmark Statement 3.2; English Benchmark Statement 3.2).
• The ability to synthesize information from various sources, choosing and applying appropriate concepts and methods (English Benchmark Statement 3.3).
• Ability to formulate and solve problems, anticipate and accommodate change, and work within contexts of ambiguity, uncertainty and unfamiliarity (NAWE Creative Writing Benchmark Statement 3.2; English Benchmark Statement 3.3).
• Ability to gather information, analyse, interpret and discuss different viewpoints (NAWE Creative Writing Benchmark Statement 3.2; English Benchmark Statement 3.3).
• Information technology (IT) skills broadly understood and the ability to access, work with and evaluate electronic resources (NAWE Creative Writing Benchmark Statement 3.2; English Benchmark Statement 3.3).

Resource implications for students

There are no requirements for the student to purchase resources for this module.

Talis Reading list

http://readinglists.bangor.ac.uk/modules/uxs-3801.html

Reading list

• Ambrose, G. and Harris, P., 2010. Design thinking. Lausanne: AVA Academia.
• Sutton, R. I., 2007; Weird Ideas that Work: How to build a Creative Company. Free Press, Simon and Schuster,
• Holmann, R. Kaas, H-W. Keeling, D., Oct 2004., The Future of Product Development, McKinsey Quarterly.
• Brown, T. Jun 2008., Design Thinking. Harvard Business Review.
• Kolko, J., Sep 2015., Design Thinking Comes of Age. Harvard Business Review.

Compulsory in courses:

• W622: BA Film Studies with Game Design year 3 (BA/FSGD)
• P310: BA Media Studies with Game Design year 3 (BA/MSGD)
• W839: BA Professional Writing with Game Design year 3 (BA/PWGD)
• I103: BSc Computer Science with Game Design year 3 (BSC/CSGD)

Optional in courses:

• W900: MArts Creative Practice year 3 (MARTS/CP)