PhD Research

Interfaces between Game Design and Sports Sciences: a simulator for Rugby

In addition to physical valences, the rugby athlete has several cognitive demands. However, there is a gap in research on developing these skills. Therefore, it investigates the possibilities of developing them through interactions with video games. The study supported by a practice-led approach and conducted using a participatory methodology. Coaches and athletes were consulted to reach results with more adherence and specificity than the other approaches available on the market. The Game Design team received a project structure to direct some phases of development so that others could be built together with coaches and athletes in an iterative process of research, prototyping and playtests. The partial results of the research show that the field of game design, acting in a multidisciplinary way, can offer significant contributions in the daily training of cognitive skills in rugby athletes. Finally, the thesis presents a possible journey of collaboration between game design and the sports sciences.

Keywords: Action research, game design, participatory paradigm, practice-led, rugby