BA4: Project Brief

Course: BA (Hons) Games Art and Design

Year: Two

Unit: BA4: Focus 1

Project Title Game Design

Project 1 of 2 within this unit

Start Date: 06/10/2014

Study Hours: 250

Submission Date: 28/11/2014

Tutor(s): George Beard (Project Leader)

Description:

This project will engage you in game design principles for Indie development through 

game analysis, paper and digital prototyping. Games are judged not only by the way 

they look and sound but importantly by how they ‘feel’. The touch and feel of a game is 

one of the most crucial aspects of its design and can make or break a product. This 

project focuses on analysis and design for the user experience and asks the question 

‘what processes can we use to design games that feel good?’

Lean methodologies for development in small studios requires efficient and quick prototyping of game concepts for testing and iteration. Early in the project, guest speakers from Indie Studios will introduce you to their sometimes unique working processes.

This project addresses the key areas of study as follows:
Studio Practice: Throughout the project you will engage with a series of workshops, 

seminars and lectures covering a range of design processes that relate to research and 

development stages you may encounter within the games sector. You will receive 

instruction on how to present an idea and exemplify concepts effectively as well as

technical demonstrations. Throughout the project you will be asked to present and 

share your ideas in the following areas.
First Party Research - creating and iterating playable versions of elements in

your game;.

Paper and digital prototypes

Play testing

Feedback loops
Third Party Research - finding games with similar mechanics that can be analysed and utilised for:

Effectiveness

Aesthetic/Feel

Applying findings to your prototype

Studies – recreate your own prototype, an artistic study de-constructing an established design.

You will submit a range of documents and files to demonstrate your engagement and 

achievements of the above areas, further detailed instructions will be given throughout 

the project.

Business and Professional Skills: This is integrated within Project 2 Creating 

Coherent Worlds. All topics covered are relevant to studio practice and will inform your 

creative and practical decision-making.

Contextual Studies: Throughout this unit, contextual studies runs as a separate 

Project 2 Creating Coherent Worlds. All topics covered are relevant and concurrent to 

Project 1 and inform your creative and practical decision-making.

Personal Development and Planning: You will keep an independent reflective journal 

or blog recording your own personal learning experience throughout this brief. 

The table below lists the work you will need to submit and which areas of study each 

item relates to: 

The table below shows which of the Unit Learning Outcomes are addressed by this 

project and what you will need to do to show that you have met them:

Reference material

Brown, D.. (2013) Designing Together: The Collaboration and Conflict 

Management Handbook for Creative Professionals. UK, Newriders.

Moore, E, M. (2011) Basics of Game Design. FL. USA. Taylor and Francis Group.

Ries, E. (2012) The Lean Startup: How Constant Innovation Creates Radically 

Successful Businesses. USA, Portfolio Penguin.

Swink, S. (2009). Game Feel. Burlington MA USA.Morgan Kaufmann.

Salen, K. and Zimmerman, E. (2004) Rules of Play: Game Design Fundamentals.

Cambridge MA, USA, The MIT Press.

Schwarzl., T. (2014) Project Completed: How Successful Indie Game Developers 

Finish Their Projects. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform; 1 edition.

Trefry, G. (2010) Casual Game Design: Designing Play for the Gamer in All of Us.

Burlington MA, Morgan Kaufmann Publishers.