Tania Dales

University of York

Tania is a MSc by research Interactive Media graduate, and is experienced in qualitative data collection and analysis for video games, industry and educational purposes. They are a video game designer and developer, predominantly experienced with horror experiences and games which are a little strange, bizzare and uncomfortable but not directly horror.

About Tania's research:

Horror has the unique ability to leave lasting impressions upon a person, often this isn’t utilized as much as it could be and a video game may lean more towards stereotypical genre tropes such as jump scares and scary stories. A lasting emotional response appears to be something that occurs when a player is no longer engaged in gameplay after the credits have rolled and they have moved on. Often, it appears to stem from a moment of physical discomfort, such as repulsion or disgust, or from psychological phenomena such as unease and distrust which we see discussed predominately concerning the uncanny valley theory. 

Lasting emotional responses, and how they happen as a result of horror video game design is what my research seeks to understand. In particular, can we identify moments where a player experiences a lasting and memorable emotional response that is a result of design? Are there moments in video games where a player experiences an emotional response that was unintended by a designer as a result of a specific design element? Can we utilize this knowledge and understanding of the lasting impact video games have on a player to design authentic and innovative horror game experiences? By understanding what may prompt lasting emotional responses, we could begin to build a toolkit that can be utilized by indie game developers.