Paul Callaghan

Paul is an experienced Melbourne based writer, game developer, and teacher with over 10 years of experience working in the games industry. Drawing on these varied skills, he is able to explore a wide range of topics with students.

A job playing games

Where should I start? What subjects should I study at school? What jobs are there? Can I make a living out of it? Should I play lots of games?

Covering the varied and creative roles that exist in the games industry from programmer and artist to designer and producer, students and teachers will uncover that it is possible to build a career doing it, and that playing games does help.

Game Design

How do video games work? What does it mean when something is 'fun'? What does a game designer actually do?

Through practical workshopping sessions, students will deconstruct the core elements of games, discovering how they work behind the scenes and developing a greater understanding of how their intangible 'fun factor' is created.

Writing for games

Why do some games have a story? How are video game stories different from other books or comics or films? What are the challenges of writing for games?

Exploring story and character development in contemporary games, students will learn how video games use the same storytelling techniques as other mediums and what the strengths and challenges of writing for games are.

Games as tools for learning, literacy and numeracy

What do games have to do with learning? With literacy skills? With numeracy? How can we use video games to develop those skills?

By delving into the fundamentals of how we learn, students and teachers can better understand how video games fit our models of learning, how they are connected to traditional literacy and numeracy skills, and how we can make the most of the intertwined and all-pervasive nature of play and learning.

An accomplished and engaging speaker, Paul has presented on these topics, and others related to game design and story, at career expos, independent game festivals, developer and teacher conferences, and has appeared on ABC TV's Good Game talking about games addiction and our innate need for play.

Also an award winning short story writer, Paul has written, directed and script-edited short films, collaborated on comics, and is currently finishing his second novel as well as working with a local developer on creating the story and characters for one of their upcoming games.

Paul enjoys sharing his experiences writing and creating games, encouraging students and teachers to critically engage with the possibilities of the medium and develop a newfound appreciation of the games that they play and their place in the wider world.