Behaviour and Motivation in Games
Overview
This unit familiarises students with psychological concepts useful for game design. It provides students with an understanding of both player and design psychology, producing greater awareness in their creative process. The intention is to provide them with tools to better understand the motivations of the people they design for and to examine their own creative practice in depth. The unit is divided into four arenas; player psychology, design considerations, design motivations and application to industry.
Requisites
Rules
50 Credit Points of Level 2 units
OR
GAM30004 User-Centred Design & Evaluation
Equivalent
GAM30005 Behaviour and Motivation in Games
01-June-2025
Learning outcomes
Students who successfully complete this unit will be able to:
- Evaluate psychological theory, and apply it to their written and creative work
- Build a comprehensive framework for understanding the motivations of their intended audience
- Formulate informed psychology based strategies for marketing to specific audiences
- Apply psychological theory to the processes that inform their design decisions
- Articulate a deeper knowledge of the relationship between player, designer and the game industry, and apply this to vocational choices
Teaching methods
Hawthorn
| Type | Hours per week | Number of weeks | Total (number of hours) |
|---|---|---|---|
| On-Campus Lecture |
1.00 | 12 weeks | 12 |
| On-Campus Class |
2.00 | 12 weeks | 24 |
| Online Learning Activities |
5.75 | 12 weeks | 69 |
| Unspecified Learning Activities Individual Study |
3.75 | 12 weeks | 45 |
| TOTAL | 150 |
Assessment
| Type | Task | Weighting | ULO's |
|---|---|---|---|
| Case Study Report | Group | 30% | 1,2,3,4,5 |
| Design Project | Group | 40% | 1,2,3,4,5 |
| Reflection | Individual | 30% | 2,3,5 |
Content
- Player Psychology
- Semiology
- Colour
- Violence and Sexuality
- Design Motivations
- Independent Development
- Larger and AAA Studios
- Focus Groups, Testing and Marketing
- Graduate Attribute – Communication Skills: Verbal communication
- Graduate Attribute – Communication Skills: Communicating using different media
- Graduate Attribute – Teamwork Skills: Collaboration and negotiation
- Graduate Attribute – Teamwork Skills: Teamwork roles and processes
- Graduate Attribute – Digital Literacies: Information literacy
- Graduate Attribute – Digital Literacies: Technical literacy
Study resources
Reading materials
A list of reading materials and/or required textbooks will be available in the Unit Outline on Canvas.