AA4D07 - Games Innovation Gauntlet 01 Sep 2021 - 30 Aug 2027 | Version 1

Associated Module Information

Module Code: AA4D07
Module Title: Games Innovation Gauntlet
Faculty: Faculty of Business and Creative Industries
Faculty Group: Games and Design
Faculty Sub Group: Games
Module Leader: Corrado Morgana
Module Team: Mitchel Leatherdale, Richard Hurford, Emma Marshman
First Intended Intake: SEP 2021 Final Year of Intake: 2026
Date Closed:
Credit Value: 40 Credit Level: 7
Language: English
Percentage of Module Taught in Welsh: 0
Equivalent Module:
HECOS codes:
HECOS Code Weighting:

Document Version Information

Version 1
Valid From 01 Sep 2021
Valid To 30 Aug 2027

Module Aims

• To develop creative thinking and problem solving skills through the development of a series of games, that requires students to demonstrate a level risk, ambition and originality.
• To encourage students to continually evaluate their own work, synthesising ideas and creating alternative solutions to problems.
• For students to embrace working within a team, communicating, planning and delivering projects creatively under the restriction of pre-determined project briefs.

Content Summary

This module asks the students to undertake a series of short game making challenges (sometimes called game jams or hacks) using an active/simulation approach.

This allows the diverse cohort to get to know each other and their skills better, as team members are expected to change for each challenge. Students are able to find their ‘place’ in the cohort and hopefully establishing working relationships that will outlast the duration of the module and course.

Challenge briefs are intended to take students outside of their comfort zones, in ‘hard’ skills areas such as design, art, technical and conceptual, as well as ‘soft’ skill areas such as communication, negotiation, planning, project management and leadership.

Where possible live commercial and research briefs will be used.

The short challenges are supported using an active-approach, with group work, project supervision and supervised workshops.

Learning and Teaching Methods

Activity Type Hours
Lecture 4
Project supervision 8
Supervised time in studio/workshop 24
Independent Study 158
Directed Study 122
Active/Simulation Based 36
Groupwork 48
Total Hours Selected 400

Learning Outcomes

# Learning Outcome
LO1 Participate professionally within a team, accepting the need to work flexibly and taking collective responsibility for their own work and that of others.
LO2 Review their own work and that of others, synthesising appropriate theories, contexts and practices to support and justify their own work.
LO3 Evidence the ability to present/demonstrate work clearly, communicating creative, design and/or technical decisions clearly to specialist and non-specialist audiences.

Module Requisites

N/A

Assessment Criteria

Assessment Category Assessment Type Description Duration Word Count Weight (%) Best of? Pass Mark
Asynchronous Assessment Portfolio 1 A portfolio evidencing the research, production, outcomes and analysis of several game making challenges. 0 N/A 100 No 40

Assessment Matrix

Assessment Type Learning Outcomes
LO1 LO2 LO3
Portfolio 1

Reading List

Macklin, C. & Sharp, J. (2016) Games, design and play: a detailed approach to iterative game design. Boston, MA: Addison-Wesley.
Fullerton, T., Swain, C. & Hoffman, S (2004) Game Design Workshop: Designing, Prototyping, and Playtesting Games. Sanfransisco, CA: CMP.
De Koven, B. & Gramazio, H. (2020) The Infinite Playground: A Player’s Guide to Imagination. London: MIT Press
Zubek, R. (2020) Elements of Game Design. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.
Ibister, K. (2017) How Games Move Us: Emotion by Design. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.
Taylor, S. & Lowthorpe, C. (2017) Punk Playthings: Provocations for 21st Century Game Makers. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.
Kaitila, C. (2012) The Game Jam Survival Guide. Birmingham: Packt.
Knapp, J. (2016) Sprint: How to Solve Big Problems and Test New Ideas in Just Five Days. London: Transworld Publishing.
Reynolds, G. (2012) Presentation Zen: Simple Ideas on Presentation Design and Delivery (2nd ed.) Berkeley, CA: New Riders.
Parkin, S. (2015) Death by Video Game. London: Serpent’s Tail.
ACADEMIC JOURNALS / ARTICLES
International Journal of Game Based Learning.
Transactions on Games
M. Borg, V. Garousi, A. Mahmoud, T. Olsson and O. Stålberg, \\\"Video Game Development in a Rush: A Survey of the Global Game Jam Participants,\\\" in IEEE Transactions on Games, vol. 12, no. 3, pp. 246-259, Sept. 2020, doi: 10.1109/TG.2019.2910248.
ONLINE RESOURCES
Global Game Jam https://globalgamejam.org/
Game Studies: http://gamestudies.org/
DiGRA Digital Library: http://www.digra.org/digital-library/
GDC Vault https://www.gdcvault.com/
Gamasutra https://www.gamasutra.com/
The Psychology of Video Games http://www.psychologyofgames.com/