Coordinator: Dean's Office
Required Course
Instructor(s): Dr. Mayuri Rege, Dr. Mashood K. K., and Prof. Arnab Bhattacharya
Course Day and Time: Tuesday and Thursday (10 AM to 12 Noon)
Starting from January 20, 2026
05Thu
Coordinator: Prof. Mashood K. K.
Designing and Researching with Serious Games
Mr. Prasad Sandbhor
How can serious games model complex realities and contribute to research knowledge? In this talk, I will share how I design serious games with the example of 'Birds in the City: Bengaluru Edition'. I will explain how real-world data on urban development, avian ecology, and citizen activism were translated into gameplay using the Triadic and Transformational Game Design frameworks. Additionally, I will discuss my doctoral research, which involved exploring the potential of role-playing games for climate action, including studies with a tabletop and a live-action role-playing game that informed the 'Thinking Through' design framework. The talk will provide practical insights into the design of serious games and the qualitative, design-led methods used in research with them. There will also be some games available for playing if the time permits!
Mr. Prasad Sandbhor is a serious game designer, researcher and educator. While he is the co-founder of 'Play in Nature', he is also completing a PhD in Intelligent Games and Games Intelligence (iGGi), where he has developed the 'Thinking Through' framework for climate-action role-playing games.
https://linktr.ee/prasadsandbhor