Prasad Sandbhor

University of York

Prasad is a serious game designer, researcher and educator specialising in environmental, nature-themed games, with an interdisciplinary practice informed by user-centred design and strategic management. In his PhD, he has developed the 'Thinking Through' framework for designing contextual role-playing games to support understanding of climate actions. He works at The Playful Learning at York (PLaY) Group, co-leads Play for the Planet Network and has co-founded the 'Play in Nature' initiative, which creates playful experiences that connect people with nature.  

A description of Prasad's research:

Prasad's PhD research focuses on designing games that encourage players to 'think through' their climate actions. 

He designed and evaluated 2 physical role-playing games where players immerse themselves in realistic, relatable scenarios drawn from their own lives and communities. He drew upon climate change education and communication research, utilising serious game design and user-centred design methods to create these games. Instead of dictating what players should do, these games foster spaces for reflection, discussion, and sharing regarding the dilemmas, trade-offs, and tensions associated with climate actions. 

He has synthesised his findings into a framework called the 'Thinking Through Framework' for designing role-playing games. This framework consists of 7 design principles aimed at researchers, designers, and educators in the fields of climate change education and communication, enabling them to create their own role-playing games for climate action.