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< Back Dr Daniel Gomme University of Essex iGGi Alum Players have underlying expectations of the opponents they play against in strategy games: don't break the rules, provide a sense of tension, be able to communicate plans... AI doesn't always fulfil these. Dan's focus is on finding ways to better fulfil those expectations - and even to overtly change them - in order to improve player experience. With qualitative tools and in-game testing, he's found several concrete design mechanisms that can further that goal. Email daniel.gomme@yahoo.co.uk Website LinkedIn Mastodon BlueSky GitHub Other Link Supervisor Prof. Richard Bartle Featured Publication(s): Player Expectations of Strategy Game AI Playing with Dezgo: Adapting Human-AI Interaction to the Context of Play Strategy Games: The Components of A Worthy Opponent Distributed Social Multi-Agent Negotiation Framework For Incomplete Information Games Tools To Adjust Tension And Suspense In Strategy Games: An Investigation Themes Design & Development Game AI Player Research - Previous Next

< Back Dr Tom Cole iGGi Alum + Supervisor Games should be studied as interactive systems, but are more often studied using techniques reserved for non-interactive media. As developers, we are ‘selling ourselves short’, and not exploring the creative and expressive potential of digital games to their fullest. Out of the myriad of affective experiences possible, we generally only design and experience a fraction of what could be offered. Tom hopes to help address this by studying how game mechanics, gameplay systems and control methods can be used and interpreted to create meaning and elicit a wider range of emotional responses than is commonly seen in digital games at present. Broadening and deepening emotional engagement with an emphasis on mechanics and systems. (Industry placement at Bossa Studios) Video games, with their unique properties such as interactivity, agency, control mechanics, feedback loops and gameplay systems, have the potential to impart deep emotional experiences – some already do of course. However, study of this emotional engagement remains lacking. Reliance on techniques and theory appropriated from film, literature and cultural studies yields limited results. There is relatively little understanding of how procedural elements such as control mechanisms and gameplay systems can be leveraged (or synergised with narrative and/or audio-visual elements) for emotional affect. Tom was previously at Supermassive Games where he was a designer on the BAFTA award-winning horror game Until Dawn and artist on Killzone Shadow Fall. Tom got his BSc in Biology with Industrial Experience from Manchester. After teaching science in secondary schools for a while, he decided games were more interesting and got his MA in Digital Games Theory and Design at Brunel. After time at Goldsmiths, University of London and the University for Creative Arts, Rochester, Tom is now Lecturer in Games Development at the University of Greenwich where he teaches games development, design and production. From 2016 to 2024 he led the organisation of Adventurex - the Narrative Games Convention, a sold out international conference which grew from 100 to 650 people during his time leading it. Email tom@tommakesgames.com Website LinkedIn Mastodon BlueSky GitHub Other Link Featured Publication(s): The History of Nintendo Emotional exploration and the eudaimonic gameplay experience: A grounded theory More than a bit of coding:(un-) Grounded (non-) Theory in HCI Eudaimonia in Digital Games Thinking and doing: Challenge, agency, and the eudaimonic experience in video games "Moments to Talk About": Designing for the Eudaimonic Gameplay Experience Grounded Theory in games research: making the case and exploring the options Emotional and functional challenge in core and avant-garde games The Tragedy of Betrayal: How the design of Ico and Shadow of the Colossus elicits emotion Themes Design & Development Game AI https://www.youtube.com/playlist?feature=share&list=PL_17c-ELEJ5334QRqxhRLnnoX8aNdpHL- - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pe5FfHTk-4 Previous Next

< Back - Meet me @ Develop:Brighton 2026 - Luiza Gossian Queen Mary University of London iGGi PG Researcher Available for placement Luiza is a multidisciplinary researcher, game designer and developer interested in translating real world concepts into engaging game mechanics. Her work explores how games can bridge the gap between serious and entertainment design, combining the strengths of both to tackle difficult topics in new and unexpected ways. As an experienced artist, graphic designer and photographer, Luiza uses her visual skills and psychology background to prototype experimental game designs, design game documentation and craft atmospheric experiences. A description of Luiza's research: Luiza’s work explores alternative approaches to serious games that blend the accessibility and engagement of casual game design with the applied foundations of research-driven game development. Using her project Detachment Undone, an abstract arcade game inspired by the ten stages of genocide, she is investigating how to design games about genocide that break away from traditional, narrative-centric approaches and embrace the ludic potential of games. Drawing on theories of intergroup and cultural psychology, she is exploring how these difficult themes can be expressed through mechanics in engaging, effective and informative ways. Email l.gossian@outlook.com Website LinkedIn Mastodon BlueSky GitHub Other Link Supervisors: Dr Jo Iacovides Dr Jeremy Gow Themes Applied Games Design & Development - Previous Next

< Back - Meet me @ Develop:Brighton 2026 - Karl Clarke Queen Mary University of London iGGi PG Researcher Available for placement Karl Clarke is a PhD researcher focused on how virtual environments influence social interaction. He was born in England, grew up in the Middle East, and returned to the UK for university. He holds a Bachelor's and a Master's degree in Audio Technology. During the COVID-19 lockdown, he began exploring virtual reality after getting access to a headset, which led to a shift in focus toward social VR. He is now part of the Intelligent Games and Game Intelligence (iGGi) doctoral programme, where his research looks at how spatial layouts and group behavior are shaped by virtual environments in free-standing social settings. Outside of his research, Karl runs SONAR, a music group hosted in VRChat that uses social VR for live performance and shared listening experiences. Through this project, he has independently learned game development skills in 3D modelling, scripting, and a small amount of graphics programming. He is currently looking to collaborate with VR studios or social platforms working on immersive and social experiences. Email karl.clarke@qmul.ac.uk Website LinkedIn Mastodon BlueSky GitHub Other Link Supervisors: Themes Design & Development Immersive Technology Player Research https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ldehhn_LdhA Previous Next

< Back Prof. Nick Pears University of York Supervisor Nick Pears is a Professor of Computer Vision in York’s Vision, Graphics and Learning (VGL) research group. He works on statistical modelling of 3D shapes, with an emphasis on the human face and head. The Liverpool-York Head Model and the associated Headspace training set has been downloaded by over 100 research groups internationally, with the Universal Head Model being downloaded by 50 research groups. His most recent work with his PhD students has focused on semantic disentanglement of 3D images and how to make autonomous vehicles safer and more trustworthy when using computer vision systems. He is assessor for many PhDs including construction of generative models for novel video content using adversarial deep learning techniques. Email nick.pears@york.ac.uk Website LinkedIn Mastodon BlueSky GitHub Other Link Themes Creative Computing Game AI - Previous Next

< Back Dr Jeremy Gow Queen Mary University of London iGGi Training Coordinator Supervisor Jeremy Gow is a game AI researcher with a focus on computational game design, exploring ways in which AI can help us understand players and games, enhance the game development process, and contribute to the creation of game content. He has been a lecturer at EECS and a member of the Queen Mary Game AI group since 2018. He has a background in artificial intelligence and human-computer interaction research, and a PhD in AI from the University of Edinburgh. He is particularly interested in supervising students with a game development or AI background on the following topics: Automated playtesting and QA AI-based game development tools Modelling player experience AI for the design of agents and procedural generators Computational creativity in games Research themes: Game AI Game Analytics Game Design Computational Creativity Email jeremy.gow@qmul.ac.uk Website LinkedIn Mastodon BlueSky GitHub Other Link Themes Creative Computing Design & Development Game AI Game Data - Previous Next

< Back Dr Phoebe Hesketh University of York iGGi Alum Phoebe's PhD explored how people learn to play games through gameplay, online media, and community interaction. At the University of York, Phoebe worked on her skills as a researcher by exploring multiple methodologies and disciplines. She built upon her quantitative research skills from Bristol with qualitative research during their PhD including grounded theory and thematic analysis. She took courses in user-centred design and evaluation and designing for accessible player experiences (through AbleGamers). She participated in game jams and game development courses for experience and technical design. She also gave a talk at DEVELOP 2021 communicating and sharing her research and expertise in how players learn to play games to help designers with their onboarding for their games. She originally studied Engineering Mathematics at the University of Bristol which focused on systems and mathematical modelling and simulation, the mathematics and implementation of AI and Machine Learning systems, programming in object-oriented programming languages such as C++ and Java, and developed ray tracers in computer graphics courses. She also worked on projects in linguistics, logistics, computer vision, and physics. Once completing her PhD, Phoebe moved into the games industry as an AI programmer for several years before looking to return to games and player research. She has set up her own company, Take A Mo, that focuses on helping developers analyse their systems and internal systems to maximise access for players in usability, onboarding, accessibility, and representation. She is a currently carving her niche in the industry. Email phoebe@takeamo.co.uk Website LinkedIn Mastodon BlueSky GitHub Other Link Supervisors: Prof. Sebastian Deterding Dr Jeremy Gow Featured Publication(s): How Players Learn Team-versus-Team Esports: First Results from A Grounded Theory Study Themes Esports Player Research - Previous Next

< Back Dr Josh Reiss Queen Mary University of London Supervisor Josh Reiss investigates transformative technologies focused around audio production and sound design. He has published more than 200 scientific papers (including over 50 in premier journals and 5 best paper awards), and co-authored two books. His research has been featured in dozens of original articles and interviews on TV, radio and in the press. He is a Fellow and former Governor of the Audio Engineering Society. He co-founded the highly successful spin-out company, LandR, and recently formed a second start-up, FXive. He maintains a popular blog, YouTube channel and twitter feed for scientific education and dissemination of research activities. Prof. Reiss has a strong interest in games research, especially procedural audio content generation. Procedural content generation supports creation of rich and varied games, maps, levels, characters and narrative elements. But sound design has not kept pace with such innovation. Often the visual aspects of every object in the scene may be procedurally rendered, yet sound designers still rely on huge libraries of pre-recorded samples. This approach is inflexible, limited and uncreative. An alternative is procedural audio, where sounds are created in real-time using software algorithms. But many procedural audio techniques are low quality, computational, or tailored only to a narrow class of sounds. Machine learning from the sample libraries, to select, optimise and improve the procedural models, could be the key to transforming the industry and creating procedural auditory worlds. He welcomes the opportunity to supervise students interested in this or related topics. Research themes: Procedural Content Generation Game Audio and Music Game AI Game Design Computational Creativity Player Experience Email joshua.reiss@qmul.ac.uk Website LinkedIn Mastodon BlueSky GitHub Other Link Themes Creative Computing Game AI Game Audio - Previous Next

< Back Dr Jozef Kulik University of York iGGi Alum Jozef’s first study has focused on developing a better understanding of the challenges and barriers to making accessible games. This identified a vast array of personal, organisational, and external factors which contribute to the difficulties that developers experience when seeking to make their games more accessible, and also identifies avenues which might be helpful. One key finding in this research was that one of the biggest challenges that developers experience relates to a lack of lived experience with disability, or knowledge of the player experience with disabilities. My most recent research is focused on how to effectively extract that knowledge from players with disabilities, then insert it into a large studio within the UK. This research takes a multi-pronged approach to assisting developers in making more accessible games. First by directly assisting a studio with knowledge about their games, second generating potentially transferable knowledge on accessibility issues and player experience for the rest of the industry, and exploring how research methods such as diary study methodology can be valuable in extracting data from natural play environments with people with disabilities. Email joe.kulik@york.ac.uk Website LinkedIn Mastodon BlueSky GitHub Other Link Supervisors: Prof. Paul Cairns Dr Jen Beeston Featured Publication(s): Understanding how we make accessible games: Perspectives from the games industry and players with disabilities A Qualitative Investigation of Real World Accessible Design Experiences within a Large Scale Commercial Game Development Studio Grounded theory of accessible game development What makes icons appealing? The role of processing fluency in predicting icon appeal in different task contexts Themes Accessibility Player Research - Previous Next

< Back Evgenii Kashin University of York iGGi Alum Evgenii, a Computer Science enthusiast, began crafting games in school using the Warcraft3 editor. He spent five years as a Machine Learning Engineer, excelling in computer vision and graphics. His work at Snap included creating engaging lenses and researching 3D object capturing. An ECCV2020 article on face manipulation, with over 100 citations, is a testament to his prowess. Away from work, he enjoys bouldering, hiking, racing, and gaming. My research is dedicated to establishing a cost-effective approach for creating and generating 3D scenes for game development, a critical aspect of modern VR/AR applications. Harnessing the potential of generative visual content, I aim to develop algorithms capable of realistically completing 3D scenes from a few images. This could revolutionize the entertainment and creative industries, particularly game development. Picture having only a couple of images from your favourite film and envisioning the entire scene. Such technology can enhance the efficiency of 3D artists, democratize game development, and serve as entertainment in itself. Currently, I am developing an algorithm to achieve this goal. The proposed solution employs a general pretrained text-to-image model for supervision, with a NeRF 3D representation of the scene. The central concept involves iterative outpainting, where each iteration updates the NeRF weights. Email evgenii.kashin@york.ac.uk Website LinkedIn Mastodon BlueSky GitHub Other Link Supervisor Dr William Smith Featured Publication(s): The Sky's the Limit: Relightable Outdoor Scenes via a Sky-Pixel Constrained Illumination Prior and Outside-In Visibility Stylegan2 distillation for feed-forward image manipulation Themes Creative Computing - Previous Next

< Back Younès Rabii Queen Mary University of London iGGi PG Researcher Available for post-PhD position Younès is an awarded game designer and generative AI researcher. Their current research is concerned with the relationship between a game's rules, its narrative, and how to build AI systems that can understand these relationships, manipulate them, and invent new ones. Younès also has been a game developer for the past 10 years. They specialize in crafting new forms of play and making it accessible for their peers. Their work has been previously exposed in the French embassies and international conferences like the Game Developers Conference, the Gamedevs of Color Expo and the A MAZE Festival. A description of Younès' research: Younès' research goal is to bring to video games some of the most interesting properties of roleplaying games: their ability to trust every player with building a part of the game, and their ability to generate both new narrative and gameplay on the fly. Younès is working both on the AI techniques needed to allow that, and how to design the social spaces around those games in a way that won't hurt players or abuse creators. For the end of their PhD, Younès is designing a prototype in that new genre, counting among the first games to contain a form of Live Automated Game Design. Email yrabii.eggs@gmail.com Website LinkedIn Mastodon BlueSky GitHub Other Link Supervisor(s): Dr Mike Cook Dr Jeremy Gow Featured Publication(s): "Hunt Takes Hare": Theming Games Through Game-Word Vector Translation " Hunt Takes Hare": Theming Games Through Game-Word Vector Translation Why Oatmeal is Cheap: Kolmogorov Complexity and Procedural Generation Revealing game dynamics via word embeddings of gameplay data Themes Creative Computing Design & Development Game AI - Previous Next

< Back Prakriti Nayak Queen Mary University of London iGGi PG Researcher Available for placement Prakriti is a neuroscientist passionate about pushing boundaries at the intersection of technology and biological research. Her journey began with a deep dive into neuroscience during her master’s program, where she explored large-scale imaging data and mastered statistical modelling techniques. Afterward, she pursued a career in scientific editing. She views gaming as an excellent platform to connect different fields, such as computational modelling and behaviour. Prakriti plans to develop a model of player uncertainty to enhance the gaming experience by setting difficulty levels that are enjoyable for each player, making games more accessible for people with limited cognitive capabilities. Additionally, her work has diagnostic applications. A description of Prakriti's research: Navigation and spatial memory are essential cognitive processes that enable individuals to orient themselves in complex environments. Amid the inherent uncertainty of environmental noise and cognitive variability, the brain employs sophisticated strategies to make navigational decisions. This project aims to elucidate the cognitive underpinnings of spatial navigation performance by leveraging gaming data to understand how individuals manage spatial uncertainty. The plan is to adapt a Bayesian ideal-observer model based on visual simultaneous localization and mapping. The model will fit and predict the player’s moment-by-moment movement decisions, given the first-person view and the map of the game environment. Fitting the model to the players' gameplay trajectories will yield parameters indicating each individual's levels of visual, motor, and memory noise. The combination of parameters that best differentiate between players will then be examined. This research has the potential to enhance our understanding of spatial navigation and its underlying mechanisms, as well as improve spatial navigation in games, offering an adaptive gaming experience tailored to individual spatial uncertainty levels. Email p.nayak@qmul.ac.uk Website LinkedIn Mastodon BlueSky GitHub Other Link Supervisors: Dr Guifen Chen Dr Yul HR Kang Themes Accessibility Applied Games Player Research - Previous Next