PhD researchers

The PhD researchers I supervise at the University of York. Between them they work on projects related to challenge and agency in video games, games as coping mechanisms, game audio, and exploring how indie developers create and evaluate their games.

Current PhD researchers

Sally Sheppard

Beyond Bartle: Designing a Flexible, Personality-Driven Taxonomy of Player Motivation for Contemporary Games and Virtual Worlds

Years: 2026–present
Funding: EPSRC Doctoral Landscape Award

Challenge and adaptation Designing games and interactive media

Alex Flint

Levelling Up the Narrative Testing Practices of Indie Video Game Developers

Years: 2023–present
With: Prof Jonathan Hook
Funding: EPSRC CDT in Intelligent Games and Game Intelligence (iGGi)

Indie developers and the games industry Measuring player experience

1 paper together

Comparing Measures of Perceived Challenge and Demand in Video Games: Exploring the Conceptual Dimensions of CORGIS and VGDS2023 · Proceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI'23)

Luca Resti

Effect of Contextual Sound Perception on Metaverse User Experience

Years: 2023–present
With: Dr Amelia Gully, Prof Gavin Kearney, Linus Gisslén (EA SEED), Monica Villanueva Aylagas (EA SEED)
Funding: EPSRC CDT in Sound Interactions in the Metaverse

Game audio

3 papers together

MAV-C: A Framework for the Joint Objective Estimation of Audio-Visual Complexity in Immersive Virtual Environments2026 · Proceedings of the AES 6th International Conference on Audio for Virtual and Augmented Reality and Immersive Games (AVARIG 2026)
Spherical Acoustic Spatial Entropy: Predicting Acoustic Scene Complexity in Virtual Environments2026 · IEEE Open Journal of Signal Processing
Acoustic Indicators of Join Quality in Concatenated Sports Video Game Commentary2025 · UK and Ireland Speech Workshop (UKIS 2025)

Yiping Han

Audio Engineering & Game Audio Simulation

Years: 2023–present
With: Prof Damian Murphy, Sony Audio Research
Funding: EPSRC CDT in Sound Interactions in the Metaverse

Game audio Indie developers and the games industry

1 paper together

Perspectives of Sound Designers on Real-Time Sound Propagation in Games2025 · IEEE Conference on Games (CoG'25)

Xuechen Xu

The Effects of Agency on Player Experience in Video Games

Years: 2023–present
With: Dr Jen Beeston

Measuring player experience Immersion and game features

2 papers together

What We Talk About When We Talk About Agency: A Systematic Review of Agency in Video Games2026 · Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction (CHI PLAY 2026)
Redefining Play: A Novel Framework for Differentiating Agency and Autonomy in Video Games2025 · Proceedings of the Digital Games Research Association Conference (DiGRA'25)

Sahar Mirhadi

Positive Effects of Gaming during Difficult Life Experiences

Years: 2021–present
With: Dr Jo Iacovides
Funding: EPSRC CDT in Intelligent Games and Game Intelligence (iGGi)

Games for good Emotional challenge and meaningful play

2 papers together

Seeing Your Own Mind Playing Out on the Screen: A Constructivist Grounded Theory of Video Games as Dynamic Coping Systems2026 · Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction (CHI PLAY 2026)
Playing Through Tough Times: Exploring the Relationship between Game Aspects and Coping Strategies during Difficult Life Challenges2024 · Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction (CHI PLAY 2024)

Graduated

Sittikrai Chorrojprasert

Exploring the Effects of Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment Functions in Running Exergames on Player Experience and Physical Effort

Years: 2021–2025
With: Dr Ben Kirman, Dr Myat Aung
Now: School of Information Technology, King Mongkut's Institute of Technology Ladkrabang, Thailand

Challenge and adaptation Immersion and game features

2 papers together

Proactive or Reactive? Comparison of Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment Effects on Player Experience and Physical Effort in a Running Exergame2026 · IEEE Conference on Games (CoG'26)
Exploring the Effects of Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment Functions on Player Experience and Physical Effort in a Running Exergame2025 · Preprint, SSRN 5312627