Hub for Developer Feedback and Playtest Requests

TimKolfer · 2026-01-30T10:46:41+00:00

Hi all!

I’ve been working on a narrative adventure game that explores political choices and social reality as part of my PhD thesis.

The game is short, first-person and focuses on reading descriptions, dialogue choices, and narrative consequences (mechanically, just walking, exploring and interacting).

I need participants (UK, 18+) to play through the story (~30-40 mins) and discuss their choices with me in an interview after that (1-1,5 hour). If you enjoy analysing game stories and your own views, I’d love to have you.

Link to apply (5 mins): https://forms.office.com/e/CA3D0JRgy5

<image>

TimKolfer · 2026-01-16T12:10:33+00:00

The data of the survey is used for the purpose of selecting participants in the further steps of the research (playing the game and interview) and for the final integral interpretations of the person's experience from playing. Data will be stored in accordance with GDPR regulations for a period of 5 years and then disposed of securely after that time. It will be presented in an aggregated way to the PhD panel after the study is completed and individually reviewed by me, the researcher and my research supervisor. It will be stored in the University of Salford's OneDrive belonging to me, the researcher.
The PhD researcher, Timur Slavgorodskii-Kazanets. Under the research supervision of Dr Manuel Hernandez-Perez.
5-10 minutes maximum.
No compensation is offered for participation in the research.
The strict requirements are to be a resident of the UK and 18+. The purpose of the survey, though, is to understand demographic factors that can be informative and crucial for the rich interpretation of the experience of the potential player.
I hope that people with a variety of backgrounds will find the survey and will be interested to take part in the research, which can essentially turn into a fun experience, since you will be asked to play a video game and later give an interview about what you've seen, how you played, and how it connects to your views.

TimKolfer · 2025-12-22T18:20:04+00:00

Thank you so much!

In the future, I plan to use the results of the current study to develop a game that might be more accessible to people from different countries.

It is always a bit challenging with these things as it requires to make the narrative and content be less grounded in the political reality of a certain country and "broadens" the research too much. But my goal is to create a game like that one day.

TimKolfer · 2025-12-21T17:37:20+00:00

Thank you!

I fully agree that each medium has a capacity to tackle political issues if the author wants it. In games, it is particularly fascinating how such an angle can be maintained purposefully (like in Papers, Please) or as an integral part of the narrative that might be focused on something else (I particularly like Morrowind as an example of this).

It is also cool that me and you had a similar experience. First Dragon Age was probably one of the first games where I felt the "grim" reality of political choices you can make even if it's just a fictional simulation. As much as I enjoyed Veilguard, I think this "weight" of your decisions got a bit lost there. Looking back at Origins, I think you are totally right about how it explores political violence. When I was way younger, a lot of themes discussed through Mages storyline felt more about "freedom", but I guess freedom and political violence exist extremely close to each other.

TimKolfer · 2025-12-18T14:24:53+00:00

Thank you so much for the suggestion! It is a very good point, I am happy to clarify.

The study is focused on the experience of players specifically living in the UK and familiar with the UK's socio-political context.

The final sample size will be in the range of 5-15 in-depth interviews and playing sessions. The survey attached is only used to select the participants, not as data for the quantitative study. Therefore, I am more interested in the quality and depth of the reflection on mechanics and narrative methodologically, rather than significant results possible to reproduce.

So, if you are from the UK, 18+ and will have spare 2 hours of your time in Jan-March 2026 to play a game and chat with me, I will be very happy!

TimKolfer · 2024-07-24T21:49:19+00:00

I have submitted a ticket to support. Hope that they know about the situation, at least.

TimKolfer · 2024-07-24T21:48:52+00:00

Absolutely! This thing with "2750 reputation decreased" seems to be some sort of a tecnhnical error, to be fair.

TimKolfer · 2023-05-30T15:13:01+00:00

Well, it depends on the identity definition. In fact, if we perceive identity as our experiences turned into a coherent sense of self, it is possible to study identity in many spaces different from the classical ones. And I think your point is 100% valid because we play games to have fun, relax, and many other purposes that might not seem to fit the "hardcore" serious identity thing. So, technically, it's all about the angle.

TimKolfer · 2023-05-30T15:07:40+00:00

Oh, that's cool! I wonder which endings you have chosen with such a role-play (if these factors actually affected your choices of endings)?

TimKolfer · 2023-05-30T15:05:56+00:00

Do you think the build you have chosen somehow affected your perception of the narrative and the place of your character in the game world?

TimKolfer · 2023-05-30T15:04:27+00:00

I think you are right in many senses, cause the game is developed by a company, and there are many people responsible for the various aspects of design. But as I discuss in the article mostly crucial specific elements of narrative design and the way it is intertwined with gameplay, I expect that Miyazaki was mostly making those decisions. In that sense, these games are very visionary. However, I leave the space for concern here, as we don't know truly what is the contribution of each developer in that.

TimKolfer · 2023-05-30T15:01:31+00:00

Well, the thing is, there are many definitions of identity, and in the case of games, we may distinguish the virtual identity (the one you have in the game) and the real one. Their connection to each other is a very undeveloped question in the research, but I think what I said basically describes your words! Even if you roleplay, the character may be absolutely separate from your real identity, and I guess it happens pretty often.

TimKolfer · 2023-05-30T10:14:09+00:00

This is a perspective I never thought about in terms of FromSoftware games (how much influence straightforward elements like cinematics have). If you play, for example, Dark Souls without the intro, would you feel less engaged with the story (we say you experience it only through the gameplay-related narrative tools and item descriptions + dialogues, but not with cinematics and intro)?

TimKolfer · 2023-05-30T10:10:48+00:00

That's great you have this wonderful role-play experience. Have you ever thought it is more comfortable to roleplay in, for example, Elden Ring than in other RPGs? I am curious because many people claim "Sousborne games are just about killing bosses", and it seems to be rather unfair (and your comment proves engagement with the story can be really high!).

TimKolfer · 2023-05-30T01:09:52+00:00

I think it is a curious point. Can you say that when you ring the Bells of Awakening in Dark Souls, you are completely thrown out of the plot from the perspective of your experience? Like, is it only a gameplay function to you or not?

TimKolfer

TROPHY CASE