Course coordinator
Dr Maureen Engel
Course overview
- Study period
- Semester 1, 2025 (24/02/2025 - 21/06/2025)
- Study level
- Undergraduate
- Location
- St Lucia
- Attendance mode
- In Person
- Units
- 2
- Administrative campus
- St Lucia
- Coordinating unit
- Communication & Arts School
In this course, students will undertake a critical interrogation of contemporary gaming cultures, exploring the ways in which the narrative structures, modes of play and representation in digital games immerse players in the cultural dynamics of technology, trial and contest. The course content explores the predominant genres, themes, objects and environments of gaming cultures, with an emphasis on critical analysis and the progressive evolution of digital games. Students will engage with the everyday, lived social experience of gaming and its contribution to our understanding of digital technology, ourselves and our engagement with others in the spaces created by games.
This course examines the structural, technical, and cultural components of games and gaming. Students will develop a range of critical skills to analyse games and gaming culture(s). Tutorials will provide opportunities for students to practice their critical skills, and to develop creative skills in gamification and prototyping.
Course contact
Course staff
Lecturer
Dr Maureen Engel
Tutor
Mr Izzy Ariff
Miss Vindhya Barwal
Dr Duncan Hubber
Mr Pierce Wilcox
Timetable
The timetable for this course is available on the UQ Public Timetable.
Additional timetable information
Whilst every effort is made to place students in their preferred activity, it is not always possible for a student to be enrolled in their tutorial of choice. If you require assistance, please ensure that you email timetabling.commarts@enquire.uq.edu.au from your UQ student email with:
- Your name
- Your student ID
- The course code
- A list of three tutorial preferences (in order of preference)
- Reason for the change – e.g. timetable clash, elite athlete status, SAP
Teaching staff do not have access to change tutorials or help with timetables; all timetabling changes must be processed through the Timetabling Team.
Aims and outcomes
This course aims to give students a critical vocabulary for the analysis of games and gaming culture(s), and the skills to apply that critical vocabulary to a range of games and para-gaming sites. Building from that intellectual and critical foundation, students will learn a variety of gamification strategies and practice their application to case studies.
Learning outcomes
After successfully completing this course you should be able to:
LO1.
Understand the broad contours of the field of game studies and be able to situate your work within it
LO2.
Understand the cultural relevance and role of games and gaming, particularly digital games
LO3.
Critically interrogate the structures, aesthetics, narratives, ethics, and implications of games
LO4.
Critically analyse the communities and cultures that surrounds and support games
LO5.
Understand the role that games play within larger media and technology ecosystems
LO6.
Understand the relationships between games/gaming and various social/cultural identities
LO7.
Understand games as systems and critically analyse those systems
LO8.
Generate gamification prototypes
LO9.
Present yourself, your prior knowledge, and your learning foals in a succinct and professional manner
Assessment
Assessment summary
| Category | Assessment task | Weight | Due date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Presentation | Me-In-A-Minute Video | 10% |
21/03/2025 4:00 pm |
| Quiz |
Weekly Quizzes
|
15% |
Week 4 - Week 12
Students must undertake the quiz before the Tuesday lecture. Please refer to the task description for detailed due date/submission information. |
| Presentation | Critical Play Video | 40% |
17/04/2025 4:00 pm |
| Project | Gamification Project | 35% |
30/05/2025 4:00 pm |
Assessment details
Me-In-A-Minute Video
- Mode
- Product/ Artefact/ Multimedia
- Category
- Presentation
- Weight
- 10%
- Due date
21/03/2025 4:00 pm
Task description
Students will produce a short, one-minute video that introduces themselves to me. This is a low-stakes assignment that will give you some experience with "pitching" yourself and highlighting some of your interests and skills. It will also give you a practice run for uploading video assignments properly, which you will have to do again later in the course. We will spend some time in our first tutorial working on these and exploring possible platforms. A fuller description, including comprehensive grading criteria, is available in Blackboard.
This assessment task evaluates students' abilities, skills and knowledge without the aid of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Students are advised that the use of AI technologies to develop responses is strictly prohibited and may constitute student misconduct under the Student Code of Conduct. Students are permitted to use Machine Translation (MT) to assist with their work, but must not copy text directly from MT tools. All use of MT must be properly acknowledged.
Students enrolling late in the semester should contact the course co-ordinator.
Submission guidelines
Submit online via Blackboard and Echo360.
Deferral or extension
You may be able to apply for an extension.
The maximum extension allowed is 28 days. Extensions are given in multiples of 24 hours.
Late submission
A penalty of 10% of the maximum possible mark will be deducted per 24 hours from time submission is due for up to 7 days. After 7 days, you will receive a mark of 0.
Weekly Quizzes
- Online
- Mode
- Written
- Category
- Quiz
- Weight
- 15%
- Due date
Week 4 - Week 12
Students must undertake the quiz before the Tuesday lecture. Please refer to the task description for detailed due date/submission information.
Task description
Each week *where we have a lecture* from Teaching Week 4 onward begins with a quiz.
Students must undertake the quiz before the Tuesday lecture. If you attempt the quiz before the lecture, you may then retake the quiz as many times as you like after the lecture until that Friday at 13:00.
Here is breakdown of the first two weeks, as examples. This schedule continues for each week that we have a lecture.
Mar 17-21 2025 (Week 4)
- Quiz must be attempted between Fri Mar 14, 13:00 -- Tue Mar 18, 9:00
- Lecture Occurs Tues Mar 18 9:00 - 10:00
- If, and only if, you have at least one attempt at the quiz (even 0%), then Tue Mar 18, 10:00 to Fri Mar 21, 13:00 retake the quiz as many times as you want
Mar 24-28 2025 (Week 5)
- Quiz must be attempted between Fri Mar 21, 13:00 -- Tues Mar 25, 9:00
- Lecture Occurs Tues Mar 25, 9:00 - 10:00
- If you have at least one attempt before the lecture Tue Mar 25 10:00 - Fri Mar 28 13:00 retake the quiz as many times as you want
** All time AEST (Brisbane time)
NB if you do not attempt the quiz before the Tuesday lecture, you will be locked out of any additional attempts. (The system will automatically time you out at exactly 9 am on Tuesdays, so be sure you hit “SUBMIT” before then, even if you are not finished.) I will not re-set the quiz for you if you miss the deadline, and you will receive a mark of zero for that week only.
Only your highest mark each week will count, whether it is on the original test or the retest. Just like in games, mastery comes with practice, and those who play the most will usually be the most successful. The quiz is based on the required and recommended readings for that week, and all answers can be found either in the required readings or in the lecture. All quizzes that you currently have access to will be visible in Blackboard.
The purpose of this assignment is to "prime" you for the readings, the lecture, and the tutorial.
Students are permitted to use Machine Translation (MT) to assist with their work, but must not copy text directly from MT tools. All use of MT must be properly acknowledged.
Submission guidelines
Online via Blackboard
Deferral or extension
You cannot defer or apply for an extension for this assessment.
Late submission
Late submission is not possible for this assessment.
Critical Play Video
- Mode
- Product/ Artefact/ Multimedia
- Category
- Presentation
- Weight
- 40%
- Due date
17/04/2025 4:00 pm
Task description
A full description, including referencing requirements for AI tools and a comprehensive grading rubric, is available in Blackboard at learn.uq.edu.au. You must consult the full assignment description on Blackboard.
For this assessment, you’ll perform an extended analysis of a video game of your choosing. You *must* discuss your choice of game with your tutor well in advance of the deadline, and it should be a game you are very familiar with *and* have easy access to. This tasks requires you to create a video featuring visuals of gameplay elements, and a voiceover that provides your critical commentary. You may use some still images in the video, but you must use at least some game play footage as well. The gameplay video *must* be your own. Your voiceover should provide a detailed analysis of the visuals, and should draw on the tools and methods we have been studying in class. This task requires that you go well beyond description (e.g., what is happening in the game) and instead focus on analysis (e.g., what it means, how it works, why it matters, etc.). A solid analysis will combine: 1) medium-specific and genre-specific reading practices; 2) critical theories and methods appropriate to the game; 3) a clear definition of the concept(s) that it is using.
Students must upload the video, and a complete text transcript of the voiceover, via Blackboard.
A full description, including referencing requirements for AI tools and a comprehensive grading rubric, is available in Blackboard at learn.uq.edu.au. We will also spend time in tutorials preparing for and working on this assessment.
A note on using generative AI in this assessment: This task has been designed to be challenging, authentic and complex. Whilst students may use AI technologies, successful completion of assessment in this course will require students to critically engage in specific contexts and tasks for which artificial intelligence will provide only limited support and guidance.
A failure to reference AI use may constitute student misconduct under the Student Code of Conduct.
To pass this assessment, students will be required to demonstrate detailed comprehension of their written submission independent of AI tools.
Please note that specific rules how you may use AI and how you must document it can be found on Blackboard.
Students are permitted to use Machine Translation (MT) to assist with their work, but must not copy text directly from MT tools. All use of MT must be properly acknowledged.
Submission guidelines
Submit video online via Blackboard and Echo360.
Submit script via TurnItIn on Blackboard.
TurnItIn Receipts:
Assignments for this course will be submitted electronically via Blackboard and using TurnItIn. Before submitting any assignments for this course, you must ensure you have completed UQ's compulsory online Academic Integrity Tutorial.
When you successfully submit your assessment to TurnItIn you will see text confirming your submission is complete, before being redirected to your Assignment inbox. On this page you can:
- View the name of the submitted file
- View date and time of the upload
- Resubmit your paper (if necessary)
- Download your submitted paper
- Download digital receipt.
If you cannot see your submission in your Assignment inbox you should regard your submission as unsuccessful. Students are responsible for retaining evidence of submission by the due date for all assessment items, in the required form (e.g. screenshot, email, photo, and an unaltered copy of submitted work).
If the submission was not successful:
- Note the error message (preferably take a screenshot).
- Go to your assignment page and see if it is possible to submit again.
- If you cannot submit again email your course coordinator immediately with the assignment attached.
Please visit this webpage for further advice on how to submit your TurnItIn assignment.
Deferral or extension
You may be able to apply for an extension.
The maximum extension allowed is 28 days. Extensions are given in multiples of 24 hours.
Late submission
A penalty of 10% of the maximum possible mark will be deducted per 24 hours from time submission is due for up to 7 days. After 7 days, you will receive a mark of 0.
Gamification Project
- Mode
- Written
- Category
- Project
- Weight
- 35%
- Due date
30/05/2025 4:00 pm
Task description
Students will undertake a gamification project based on a fictional case study and client. A full description, including components and possible cases, and a comprehensive grading rubric, will be available on Blackboard.
Note: We will spend parts of our final four tutorials working on this assessment.
A note on using generative AI in this assessment: This task has been designed to be challenging, authentic and complex. Whilst students may use AI technologies, successful completion of assessment in this course will require students to critically engage in specific contexts and tasks for which artificial intelligence will provide only limited support and guidance.
A failure to reference AI use may constitute student misconduct under the Student Code of Conduct.
To pass this assessment, students will be required to demonstrate detailed comprehension of their written submission independent of AI tools.
Students are permitted to use Machine Translation (MT) to assist with their work, but must not copy text directly from MT tools. All use of MT must be properly acknowledged.
Submission guidelines
Submit via TurnItIn on Blackboard.
TurnItIn Receipts:
Assignments for this course will be submitted electronically via Blackboard and using TurnItIn. Before submitting any assignments for this course you must ensure you have completed UQ's compulsory online Academic Integrity Tutorial.
When you successfully submit your assessment to TurnItIn you will see text confirming your submission is complete, before being redirected to your Assignment inbox. On this page you can:
- View the name of the submitted file
- View date and time of the upload
- Resubmit your paper (if necessary)
- Download your submitted paper
- Download digital receipt.
If you cannot see your submission in your Assignment inbox you should regard your submission as unsuccessful. Students are responsible for retaining evidence of submission by the due date for all assessment items, in the required form (e.g. screenshot, email, photo, and an unaltered copy of submitted work).
If the submission was not successful:
- Note the error message (preferably take a screenshot).
- Go to your assignment page and see if it is possible to submit again.
- If you cannot submit again email your course coordinator immediately with the assignment attached.
Please visit this webpage for further advice on how to submit your TurnItIn assignment.
Deferral or extension
You may be able to apply for an extension.
The maximum extension allowed is 28 days. Extensions are given in multiples of 24 hours.
Late submission
A penalty of 10% of the maximum possible mark will be deducted per 24 hours from time submission is due for up to 7 days. After 7 days, you will receive a mark of 0.
Course grading
Full criteria for each grade is available in the Assessment Procedure.
| Grade | Cut off Percent | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1 (Low Fail) | 0 - 24 |
Absence of evidence of achievement of course learning outcomes. |
| 2 (Fail) | 25 - 44 |
Minimal evidence of achievement of course learning outcomes. |
| 3 (Marginal Fail) | 45 - 49 |
Demonstrated evidence of developing achievement of course learning outcomes |
| 4 (Pass) | 50 - 64 |
Demonstrated evidence of functional achievement of course learning outcomes. |
| 5 (Credit) | 65 - 74 |
Demonstrated evidence of proficient achievement of course learning outcomes. |
| 6 (Distinction) | 75 - 84 |
Demonstrated evidence of advanced achievement of course learning outcomes. |
| 7 (High Distinction) | 85 - 100 |
Demonstrated evidence of exceptional achievement of course learning outcomes. |
Additional course grading information
- Where fractional marks occur in the calculation of the final grade, a mark of x.5% or greater will be rounded up to (x+1)%. A percentage mark of less than x.5% will be rounded down to x%.
- Where no assessable work is received, a Grade of X will apply.
Supplementary assessment
Supplementary assessment is available for this course.
Additional assessment information
- Further information regarding the assessment, including marking criteria and/or marking rubrics are available in the ‘Assessment’ folder in Blackboard for this course.
- Marks Cannot Be Changed After Being Released: Marks are not open to negotiation with course staff. If you wish to discuss the feedback you have received, you should make an appointment to speak with the Course Coordinator.
- Assessment Re-mark: If you are considering an Assessment Re-mark, please follow the link to important information you should consider before submitting a request.
- Integrity Pledge: Assignments for this course will be submitted electronically via Blackboard and using Turnitin. Before submitting any assignments for this course, you must ensure you have completed UQ's compulsory online Academic Integrity Modules.ﾠIn uploading an assignment via Turnitin you are certifying that it is your original work, that it has not been copied in whole or part from another person or source except where this is properly acknowledged, and that it has not in whole or part been previously submitted for assessment in any other course at this or any other university.
- Withholding marks prior to finalisation of grades: Per UQ Assessment Procedures – Release of Assessment Item Marks and Grades: The final assessment item and the marks for the assessment item are to be released only after the final grade for the course has been released.
Learning resources
You'll need the following resources to successfully complete the course. We've indicated below if you need a personal copy of the reading materials or your own item.
Library resources
Find the required and recommended resources for this course on the UQ Library website.
Learning activities
The learning activities for this course are outlined below. Learn more about the learning outcomes that apply to this course.
Filter activity type by
Please select
| Learning period | Activity type | Topic |
|---|---|---|
Week 1 (24 Feb - 02 Mar) |
Lecture |
Week 1: Lecture Why Games Matter: Play, Flow, and the Discipline of Game Studies |
Tutorial |
Week 1: NO TUTORIALS Tutorials start in Week 2 |
|
Week 2 (03 Mar - 09 Mar) |
Lecture |
Week 2: Lecture Understanding Game Mechanics and Experience: Core Concepts |
Tutorial |
Week 2: Tutorials begin this week |
|
Week 3 (10 Mar - 16 Mar) |
Lecture |
Week 3: Lecture Developing Your Analytic Vocabulary I: Game Analysis Methods |
Tutorial |
Week 3: Tutorial |
|
Week 4 (17 Mar - 23 Mar) |
Lecture |
Week 4: Lecture Developing Your Analytic Vocabulary II: Connecting Games to Media and Culture |
Tutorial |
Week 4: Tutorial |
|
Week 5 (24 Mar - 30 Mar) |
Lecture |
Week 5: Lecture Cultural Analysis 1: Decolonizing Play |
Tutorial |
Week 5: Tutorial |
|
Week 6 (31 Mar - 06 Apr) |
Lecture |
Week 6: Lecture Cultural Analysis 2: Feminist and Queer Approaches |
Tutorial |
Week 6: Tutorial |
|
Week 7 (07 Apr - 13 Apr) |
Lecture |
Week 7: Lecture Cultural Analysis 3: Class and Labour in Games |
Tutorial |
Week 7: Tutorial |
|
Week 8 (14 Apr - 20 Apr) |
No student involvement (Breaks, information) |
Week 8: NO LECTURE OR TUTORIAL |
Mid-sem break (21 Apr - 27 Apr) |
No student involvement (Breaks, information) |
Mid-Semester Break |
Week 9 (28 Apr - 04 May) |
Lecture |
Week 9: Lecture Gamification and Game Design Theory |
Tutorial |
Week 9: Tutorial |
|
Week 10 (05 May - 11 May) |
Lecture |
Week 10: Lecture Gamification Frameworks and Elements |
Tutorial |
Week 10: Tutorial |
|
Week 11 (12 May - 18 May) |
Lecture |
Week 11: Lecture Gamification Ethics |
Tutorial |
Week 11: Tutorial |
|
Week 12 (19 May - 25 May) |
Lecture |
Week 12: Lecture The Games Industry |
Tutorial |
Week 12: Tutorial Consultation sessions for final projects |
|
Week 13 (26 May - 01 Jun) |
No student involvement (Breaks, information) |
Week 13: NO LECTURE OR TUTORIAL |
Policies and procedures
University policies and procedures apply to all aspects of student life. As a UQ student, you must comply with University-wide and program-specific requirements, including the:
- Student Code of Conduct Policy
- Student Integrity and Misconduct Policy and Procedure
- Assessment Procedure
- Examinations Procedure
- Reasonable Adjustments - Students Policy and Procedure
Learn more about UQ policies on my.UQ and the Policy and Procedure Library.
Course guidelines
Communication Expectations
While you are a student at UQ, all communication must be conducted according to the UQ Student Code of Conduct. The UQ Library has a helpful Communicate and collaborate online module.
- Email is the primary way for you to send messages to, and receive information from, the School and our staff.
- You must use your UQ email address (not a private address) to communicate with staff.
- You should add a clear subject line, including course code, and a 2-3 word statement.
- You can send email at any time, however please do not expect responses outside normal working hours (Monday to Friday from ~8am to ~5pm).
- Emails that constitute bullying, harassment or discrimination against staff contravene the Student Code of Conduct. Emails like this will be reported to the University, and the matter will be pursued as misconduct.