Susie (Susannah) (she/they) is a Game & Narrative Designer and Lecturer of Game Design & Digital Media, and heads up the Games Design & Production Major in the Bachelor of Creative Industries at UniSA. She holds a PhD from Curtin University for which she received a Chancellor's Commendation.
Susie's research interests focus on the ability of games and digital media to communicate ideas and concepts across cultural and social divides to incite social change and to and enhance learning. She is particularly interested in games and technology's ability to promote equity, diversity and inclusion. Susie is neurodivergent and has a special interest in... Read more
About me
Susie (Susannah) (she/they) is a Game & Narrative Designer and Lecturer of Game Design & Digital Media, and heads up the Games Design & Production Major in the Bachelor of Creative Industries at UniSA. She holds a PhD from Curtin University for which she received a Chancellor's Commendation.
Susie's research interests focus on the ability of games and digital media to communicate ideas and concepts across cultural and social divides to incite social change and to and enhance learning. She is particularly interested in games and technology's ability to promote equity, diversity and inclusion. Susie is neurodivergent and has a special interest in neurodivergence and disability, gender and socio-economic inequality.
Susie has worked as a game and narrative designer on several award-winning and nominated games across PC, console and mobile. Susie is committed to promoting diversity in the games industry and in 2021 she was appointed an International Women in Games Ambassador where she helps encourage women and non-binary folks to explore game development and the opportunities within it. In 2022, Susie was announced as the winner of the Women in Games Global Awards: Games or Esports Educator award.
About me
| Date | Title |
|---|---|
| 14/05/2024 |
LIKE TO RUN OR RUNNING FOR LIKES? HOW THE GAMIFICATION OF FITNESS APPS MOTIVATES MOVEMENT, https://www.unisa.edu.au/connect/enterprise-magazine/articles/2024/like-to-run-or-running-for-likes-how-the-gamification-of-fitness-apps-motivates-movement/ |
| 30/08/2023 |
How Dungeons and Dragons is helping neurodivergent kids be themselves in South Australia's Riverland, https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-08-30/dungeons-and-dragons-riverland-neurodiverse-kids-connect/102672520 |
| 04/02/2023 |
‘I can connect with my kids’: The mums who take time out to game, https://www.smh.com.au/technology/video-games/i-can-connect-with-my-kids-the-mums-who-take-time-out-to-game-20230202-p5chdu.html |
| 19/12/2022 |
UniSA students feature internationally in Epic's Unreal Engine Film Challenge, https://unisa.edu.au/media-centre/Releases/2022/unisa-students-feature-internationally-in-the-epic-film-challenge/ |
| 05/12/2022 |
Adelaide Gaol comes alive thanks to new augmented reality app, https://unisa.edu.au/media-centre/Releases/2022/adelaide-gaol-comes-alive-thanks-to-new-augmented-reality-app/ |
| 26/04/2022 |
Getting ID after exiting prison is harder than you might think. So we built a chatbot to help, https://theconversation.com/getting-id-after-exiting-prison-is-harder-than-you-might-think-so-we-built-a-chatbot-to-help-180570 |
| 21/12/2021 |
5 of the best home-grown games to play this summer, https://theconversation.com/5-of-the-best-home-grown-games-to-play-this-summer-173147 |
| 13/12/2021 |
Half of Australia’s gamers are women, but we know very little about mothers who game, https://theconversation.com/half-of-australias-gamers-are-women-but-we-know-very-little-about-mothers-who-game-172498 |
| 13/12/2021 |
Half of Australia’s gamers are women, but we know very little about mothers who game, https://theconversation.com/half-of-australias-gamers-are-women-but-we-know-very-little-about-mothers-who-game-172498 |
| 24/09/2021 |
Epic Games and UniSA team up for Unreal Academic Partnership, https://www.screenhub.com.au/news/education-student-news/epic-games-unisa-unreal-academic-partner-program-1474587/ |
| 14/07/2020 |
Mod.TV: Video Games for Education and Social Change with Susannah Emery , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-q_IDncHhQ |
| 02/07/2020 |
Live Booleans Podcast: Susannah Emery - games for social change, https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy83MzQ2NzMwL3BvZGNhc3QvcnNz/episode/Y2ZkYTY0ZjctMDBmYy00ODc4LWJiYWEtMTUxNThkYmEzOWJk?sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiB5bvMzNPvAhULi4QIHQKwAc0QkfYCegQIARAF |
| 20/03/2020 |
New game used to educate on domestic violence , http://thewire.org.au/story/new-game-used-to-educate-on-domestic-violence/ |
| 19/03/2020 |
Domestic violence prompts new mobile game, http://theleadsouthaustralia.com.au/industries/creative-industries/domestic-violence-prompts-new-mobile-game/ |
| 12/03/2020 |
Adelaide women develop mobile game tackling domestic violence, teaching family and friends how they can help, https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-03-13/adelaide-women-changing-the-face-of-video-game-industry/12050526 |
About me
Doctor of Philosophy Curtin University
Graduate Diploma in Education (Early Years) Queensland University of Technology
Bachelor of Arts (Honours) Curtin University
Bachelor of Media Arts University of South Australia
Research
Excludes commercial-in-confidence projects.
PhD Project: An introductory guide to developing narrative-based learning games for Australian collections educators, with the History Trust of South Australia, History Trust of South Australia, 05/02/2024 - 01/01/2026
Musical Automation in the Australian Games Industry: A Comparative Study of Adaptive Audio and Generative Music in Game Development, Australian Council for the Arts, 17/07/2023 - 12/07/2024
Research
Research outputs for the last seven years are shown below. Some long-standing staff members may have older outputs included. To see earlier years visit ORCID or Scopus
Open access indicates that an output is open access.
| Year | Output |
|---|---|
| 2024 |
Open access
|
| 2024 |
6
|
| 2024 |
Open access
1
|
| 2023 |
Open access
|
| 2022 |
Open access
2
|
| Year | Output |
|---|---|
| 2024 |
Open access
|
| 2024 |
Open access
1
|
| 2022 |
Open access
2
|
| 2017 |
Open access
|
| Year | Output |
|---|---|
| 2022 |
Emery, S 2022, Hannah: a friend in need.
Open access
|
| 2021 |
|
| Year | Output |
|---|---|
| 2023 |
Open access
|
PhD Thesis:
Emery, S. (2022). Raising Awareness of Domestic Violence through the Application of Social Empathy to Game Design [PhD Thesis] <http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/87945>
Awards/Recognition:
UniSA Unstoppable Awards - Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Award (2023)
UniSA Unstoppable Awards - Mid-Career Teaching Award (2023)
Women in Games Global Awards, Winner, Games or Esports Educator Award, (2022)
South Australian Screen Awards, Winner (Henonsis) (Role: Narrative Designer), (2021)
Women in Games, International Ambassador, (2021-Ongoing)
Epic Games Unreal Engine Academic Partnership (UniSA), (2021-Ongoing)
International James Paul Gee Learning Games Award, Finalist (Hannah: a friend in need), (2021)
MCV Pacific, 30 Under 30 in the games industry, (2017, 2016, 2015)
MCV Pacific, Australian women in games, (2017)
Women in Innovation, Finalist - Winnovation Awards (2015)
Engagement:
Global Game Jam Adelaide, Organising Committee, (2022)
Cafe Booleans - Adelaide Games Industry Podcast, Co-Host, (2021-Ongoing)
Australian STEM Games Challenge, Invited Judge, (2021)
Women Game Jam (non-competitive game jam for women and NB people), Organising Committee, (2021)
Women in Games International Ambassador, (Ongoing)
External engagement & recognition
| Organisation | Country |
|---|---|
| University of Adelaide | AUSTRALIA |
| University of South Australia | AUSTRALIA |
External engagement & recognition
| Engagement/recognition | Year |
|---|---|
Ambassadorship, International Women in Games AmbassadorWomen in Games |
2022 |
Chancellor's Commendation for PhDCurtin University |
2022 |
Games or Esports Educator AwardWomen in Games Global Awards |
2022 |
Ambassadorship, International Women in Games AmbassadorWomen in Games |
2021 |
South Australian Screen Award - Best GameMercury CX |
2021 |
Ambassadorship, International Women in Games AmbassadorWomen in Games |
2020 |
Invited Panellist, The Present and future of Digital Games in SAInnovation and Collaboration Centre |
2020 |
The Game Changers, MCV Pacific Women in Games ListMCV Pacific |
2018 |
30 Under 30, MCV Pacific Games Industry ListMCV Pacific |
2017 |
The Game Changers, MCV Pacific Women in Games ListMCV Pacific |
2017 |
Teaching & student supervision
Teaching & student supervision
Supervisions from 2010 shown
| Thesis title | Student status |
|---|---|
| A Framework for Developing Educational Games in and with Australian Museums | Current |
| Designing videogames for an embodied experience: developing an independent Virtual Reality horror videogame using Unreal Engine 5 | Current |
| Professional gameplay workers: an emerging career and work industry | Current |
| The impact of the use of interactive design on the cultural heritage of children in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia | Current |
