This week we were introduced to the module and shown the plan for the semester. The plan is broken into four sections, which are divided between two overarching phases: the research phase and the create phase. In the research phase we are required to research a large range of topics, then narrowing the range to a specific four topics to present to the rest of the cohort. We then take one of those topics and do a deep dive into researching everything about that topic; this is also followed by a presentation on the topic to the cohort.

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The next phase, named the create phase, is focused on developing a pitch for a game idea based on research done in the first four weeks. This is also broken into two smaller sections where we are required to first present three game ideas and, in the final section for the semester, present a finalised refined game idea in preparation for our next semester.

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To begin our research we were given an activity where we use ourselves for idea generation. This activity involved us creating mindmaps on subjects such as “what makes us laugh” and “what makes us cry” to discover what topics may interest us the most. We initially did the activity in groups in the studio, however, as it requires a lot of personal reflection I found it useful to do the activity again in my own time. The mindmaps I created can be found on the “mindmap activity” page, which also has some that do a deeper dive into some of the topics I found most interesting.

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This week I also looked to other places to generate potential topics and a great resource for this was bookshops. I have always found that nonfiction books inspire me to learn about new things and engage with topics I otherwise wouldn’t have. Therefore, I took several pictures of books and used them as jumping off points to come up with even more topics I could look into. These can be found on the “potential topics” page.