Browse our work in the UK and abroad

The Games Research Lab hosts a range of research projects that cover a wide spectrum of theoretical and practical areas. We welcome research collaborations and PhD candidates on topics in or related to these areas:

• Video game aesthetics and politics 
• Immersive technologies and game design 
• Game-based learning 
• Ludomusicology 
• Inclusive games design 
• Games User Experience Design 
• Agency in games 
• Games and socio-cultural studies  

Much of the research is about applying game design methodologies in contexts other than games and as such it opens avenues for cross disciplinary projects with applications in education, health, citizen science, culture, and heritage, to name but a few. We are very interested in working with communities under an ethical and sustainable framework of Participatory Action Research.  

Our Research Projects

• PLAY+: A Pleasure-Positive Ludic Approach to Chemsex Harm Reduction and Recovery
• Preserving the Haenyeo Legacy: Inspiration Game Design with Care
• Remote design model for interdisciplinary co-learning in Higher Education (brunel.ac.uk)
• Decolonisation of heritage sites through mixed reality performances (brunel.ac.uk)
• A mobile game to help displaced children learn their rights (brunel.ac.uk)
• A game to help HE students develop note-taking skills (brunel.ac.uk)
• Play your research (brunel.ac.uk)
• Creativity and the creative process in digital games and poetry (brunel.ac.uk)
• Smart glass AR and affective storytelling in historic places (brunel.ac.uk)

Our Latest Publications

2026

• Dima M., Daylamani-Zad D., and Lympouridis V. (2026) 'Acting On The Edge: Developing Mixed Reality Heritage Performance Through Real-Time 3D And Virtual Production Technologies'. J. Comput. Cult. Herit. Just Accepted (September 2026). https://doi.org/10.1145/3846377
• Zingarelli R. (2026) “Pretty obvious what the writers intended”: Strategies for non-binary representations among video games characters. Game Studies. volume 26 issue 3, July 2026. ISSN:1604-7982.
• Scapolo, V. (2026) 'Luxastra by InnTale: Intersections of Serial Storytelling, Play and Social Media Entertainment on YouTube Italia'. Cinergie – Il Cinema E Le Altre Arti 15 (29):153-66. https://doi.org/10.60923/issn.2280-9481/22920.
• Girina I. (2026) ‘Dalla Letteratura al Videogioco: Riflessioni postumaniste tra burattini e androidi in Pinocchio and Lies of P’ [‘From Literature to Video Games: Posthumanist Reflections between Puppets and Androids in Pinocchio and Lies of P’], in A. Floris, M. Gargiulo and S. Fabio (eds.), ‘Pagine Schermate: sui rapporti tra letteratura e cinema nella produzione italiana del nuovo millennio’, Quaderni del CSCI, 19, December 2026.
• Girina I. (2026) ‘I Labirinti della Follia: videogioco e salute mentale tra panico mediatico e filosofia ludica’ [‘Labyrinths of Madness: Video Games and Mental Health between Media Panic and Ludic Philosophy’], in Antioco Floris, Marina Guglielmi and Chiara Tognolotti (eds.), Sottratti all’invisibilità. L’immaginario del manicomio tra cinema, televisione e videogiochi, Pisa: Edizioni ETS, 2026, pp. 219–234.

2025

• Girina I. (2025). ‘Inquadrare l’agentività nei videogiochi. Down and Out in Los Santos e la fotografia in-game come pratica ludica sovversiva’ [‘Framing Video Game Agency: Down and Out in Los Santos and In-Game Photography as Subversive Play’], in Matteo Bittanti and Marco De Mutiis (eds.), Fotoludica. Fotografia e videogiochi tra arte e documentazione, Milano–Udine: Mimesis Edizioni, 2025, pp. 513–540.
• Lewis, A. M., & Ferguson, B. (2025). Shirley Graham Du Bois, A Dangerous Woman: The Radical Potential of Black Operatic Performance. Journal of Musicological Research, 44(2–3), 215–227. https://doi.org/10.1080/01411896.2025.2554541
• Ivănescu, A. (2025). “I’ll Show You”: K/DA and the Role of the Virtual Popstar in the Games Industry. In: López Gómez, L. (eds) Music, Sound and Identity in Video Games. Palgrave Games in Context. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-87507-6_14

2024

• Dima, M. and Daylamani-Zad, D. (2024) 'Intelligent Immersion: The current landscape of AI tools in the Mixed Reality development pipeline for creative experiences'. Revista de la Asociación Española de Investigación de la Comunicación, 11 (Especial). pp. 1 - 23. Journal article | Open Access Link
• Ivănescu, A. (2024) '“POP/STARS”: The Personae of K/DA, Transmedia Marketing, and Riot Games Music'. Persona Studies, 10 (1). pp. 42 - 55.
• Ivanescu, A. (2024). A Playlist for the Apocalypse: Popular Music in Death Stranding. In L. DiTommaso, J. Crossley, A. Lockhart, & R. Wagner (Eds.), End-Game: Apocalyptic Video Games, Contemporary Society, and Digital Media Culture (pp. 18 pages). Berlin: De Gruyter.
• Ivănescu, A. (2024) 'Inhuman Music and the Monstrous-Feminine'. Journal of Sound and Music in Games, 5 (1). pp. 24 - 38.

2023

• Girina, I. and Ivanescu, A. (2023) '‘The Real Is Out There.’ Digital games and cyberculture at the threshold of virtual reality in The X-Files', in Fenwick, J. and Rodgers, DA. (eds.) The Legacy of The X-Files. London : Bloomsbury Academic. pp. 233 - 249. ISBN 10: 1-5013-8762-6. ISBN 13: 978-1-5013-8763-0.
• Saridaki, M. and Dima, M. (2023) 'Where the Magic is: Ceremonial magic as a Design Perspective for Mixed Reality Immersive Experiences', in Schniz, F. and Marcato, L. (eds.) Fictional Practices of Spirituality. Bielfeld, Germany : Transcript Publishing. , I. pp. 187 - 207. ISBN 10: 3-8394-6192-8. ISBN 13: 978-3-8376-6192-7. Book chapter | Open Access Link
• Laws-Nicola, TJ. and Ferguson, B. (2023) 'Who on Earth Is Carmen Sandiego?', in Scoggin, L. and Plank, D. (eds.) The Intersection of Animation, Video Games, and Music. London : Routledge. pp. 92 - 103. ISBN 10: 1-032-17223-1. ISBN 13: 978-1-032-17222-4.

2022

• Dima, M. (2022) 'A Design Framework for Smart Glass Augmented Reality Experiences in Heritage Sites'. Journal on Computing and Cultural Heritage, 15 (4). pp. 1 - 19. ISSN: 1556-4673
• Dima, M., Xanthaki, A., Deniozou, T. and Luoma, C. (2022) 'The Rights Hero - Serious Games for Human Rights Education and Integration of Migrant and Refugee Children in Europe'. International Journal of Children's Rights, 30 (1). pp. 41 - 71. ISSN: 0927-5568
• Ferguson, B. and Laws-Nicola, TJ. (2022) 'Playing Music Videos: Three Case Studies of Interaction between Performing Videogames and Remembering Music Videos', in Rone, VE., Aksoy, C. and Pozderac-Chenevey, S. (eds.) Nostalgia and Videogame Music: A Primer of Case Studies, Theories, and Analyses for the Player-Academic. London : Intellect Books. pp. 186 - 205. ISBN 10: 1-78938-552-0. ISBN 13: 978-1-78938-551-9.