Translating the Game Space Model from Analytic Framework to Practical Methodology for Game Development and Research

Abstract

Methodological approaches to managing game development (and) research lifecycles are often fragmented. This paper translates Howell and Stevens' (2019) Game Space Model (GSM) into the Game Space Methodology, a stage-based framework for organising game development and practice-based research. The methodology reorders the GSM's "game-as" units into nine practical stages, guiding a project from Design Philosophy through Design, Creation, Publication, Play, and finally Analysis. Each stage highlights indicative processes, outputs, and methods drawn from design research and related paradigms. After outlining how the GSM was translated into a practical framework, the paper uses a single-case study of What We Take With Us - a multi-format, values-conscious wellbeing game - to demonstrate its efficacy. The case shows how the methodology supports planning, documentation, and cross-stage reflection, but also highlights limitations around its labour demands, fit with industrial approaches, and stages of the game development process that may currently be unconsidered in the methodology.