Research Interests

Currently, my research focuses on the design engineering process of games and player experience. Specifically, I study games by understanding them as systems of emotion, time, space, and possibility.

If you are interested in working with me, check out my Collaborate and Open Topics pages.

Publications

In recent years, I have contributed to a number of scientific publications:

2025

• Dyrda, D., and Klinker, G. (2025). Toward a Game Design Engineering Process Centered on Player Experience. IEEE Conference on Games 2025. ➜ Internal Project Page
• Schacherbauer, M., and Dyrda, D. (2025). Designing with Player Paths: Presenting a Game Design Framework. IEEE Conference on Games 2025. ➜ Internal Project Page
• Bunke, A., and Dyrda, D. (2025). Toward a Unified Spatial Interface for Controlling Procedural Content Generation. IEEE Conference on Games 2025. ➜ Internal Project Page
• Bika, C., Narasimhan, S., Barth, J., Klinker, G., and Dyrda, D. (2025). Play x Discuss: A Digital Cooperative Discussion Game About Women in Science. IEEE Conference on Games 2025. ➜ Internal Project Page.
• Hemming, P., and Dyrda, D. (2025). Towards a Unified System for Controlling Aesthetics in Video Games Using Graph-Based Spatial Models. SKILL Conference 2025. ➜ Internal Project Page
• Landvogt, J., and Dyrda, D. (2025). ZEER: A Spatial Task Management Tool for Game Development. SKILL Conference 2025. ➜ Internal Project Page.

2024

• Dyrda, D., and Belloni, C. (2024). Space Foundation System: An Approach to Spatial Problems in Games. IEEE Conference on Games 2024. ➜ Internal Project Page
• Rendenbach, C., and Dyrda, D. (2024). Proposing Formal Game Spaces as Foundation for Gameplay-Based Anti-Cheating Measures. IEEE Conference on Games 2024. ➜ Internal Project Page.
• Geheeb, J., Dyrda, D., and Geheeb, S. (2024). PaceMaker: A Practical Tool for Pacing Video Games. IEEE Conference on Games 2024. ➜ Internal Project Page

2023

• Dyrda, D., Klusmann, J., Rudolph, L., Stieglbauer, F., Amougou, M., Pantförder, D., Vogel-Heuser, B., and Klinker, G. (2023). Specifying Volumes of Interest for Industrial Use Cases. 22nd IEEE International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality (ISMAR). ➜ Internal Project Page.
• Neske, M., and Dyrda, D. (2023). Playtesting Without Humans: Agent-Based Modeling as Testing Tool for Game Spaces. SKILL 2023 - Studierendenkonferenz Informatik. ➜ Internal Project Page. Database Entry.

2022

• Weber, S., Rudolph, L., Eichhorn, C., Dyrda, D., Plecher, D. A., and Klinker, G. (2022). Frameworks Enabling Ubiquitous Mixed Reality Applications Across Dynamically Adaptable Device Configurations. Frontiers in Virtual Reality. ➜ Internal Project Page.
• Rudolph, L., Dyrda, D., Plecher, D. A., and Klinker, G. (2022). Retrospective on Teaching Game Analysis for Games Engineering Students. Game Analysis Perspectives Conference (pp. 25-34). ➜ Internal Project Page. Document.

2020

• Weber, S., Dyrda, D., Ludwig, M., and Klinker, G. (2020). Ubi-Interact. MobiQuitous 2020 - 17th EAI International Conference on Mobile and Ubiquitous Systems: Computing, Networking and Services (pp. 291-300). ➜ Internal Project Page. Database Entry.

Education

I have a Master of Science in "Informatics: Games Engineering". At the moment I am a doctoral candidate at the Technical University of Munich.

• Master of Science in "Informatics: Games Engineering" from the Technical University of Munich (2019). The topic of the master thesis is "Behavior Specification for Reactive Systems".
• Bachelor of Science in "Informatics: Games Engineering" from the Technical University of Munich (2016). The topic of the bachelor thesis is "Multi Kinect Fusion for Virtual Environments".

Recognitions

In recent years I have received the following recognitions:

• TeachInf Award 2025 in the category Best Elective Lecture Winter Semester 2024/2025 for my course Level Engineering awarded by the MPI Student Council from the Faculty of Informatics at TUM.
• TeachInf Award 2022 in the category Best Compulsory Lecture Winter Semester 2021/2022 for my contributions to the course Interaction Methods and Devices awarded by the MPI Student Council from the Faculty of Informatics at TUM.
• TeachInf Award 2021 in the category Best Compulsory Lecture Winter Semester 2020/2021 for my contributions to the course Interaction Methods and Devices awarded by the MPI Student Council from the Faculty of Informatics at TUM.
• TeachInf Award 2021 in the category Best Elective Lecture Winter Semester 2020/2021 for my contributions to the course Introduction to Audio for Games awarded by the MPI Student Council from the Faculty of Informatics at TUM.
• Award for outstanding student projects in the academic year 2015 (Auszeichnung für hervorragende Studierendenprojekte im Studienjahr 2015) for the Semester Game Jam awarded by the MPI Student Council through the Student Representatives in the Faculty Council of Informatics at TUM.

Teaching

I have been teaching at the university since 2014. Starting out as a tutor, I have been working as a researcher at the university since 2019. In 2020, I turned my professional focus toward teaching. I work with students of all majors, with many of my subjects and topics focusing on informatics and game engineering. As part of my teaching, I am involved in several lectures and courses: I lead the exercises for the lectures Interaction Methods and Devices and 3D User Interfaces; I teach the courses Introduction to Audio for Games, Immersive Storytelling: Games, and Level Engineering; and I am involved in the seminar Game Analysis and practical courses for the master's programs.

Many of the courses I am involved in have been recognized with the TeachInf Award for excellence in teaching. Level Engineering and Audio for Games were awarded as the best elective courses and Interaction Methods and Devices was awarded as the best compulsory lecture (multiple times.) I am very pleased that the hard work we put into our teaching is being recognized by our students.

Below you can find an overview of my teaching activities:

• Level Engineering: Methods and Tools for Creating Game Environments and Level Design at TUM as lecturer since 2021.
• Immersive Storytelling: Games at TUM and HFF as lecturer since 2024.
• Introduction to Audio for Games at TUM as lecturer and advisor since 2016.
• Interaction Methods and Devices at TUM as exercise instructor since 2019.
• 3D User Interfaces at TUM as lecturer since 2021.
• Seminar - Game Analysis at TUM as advisor since 2019.
• Master Praktikum Games Engineering at TUM as advisor since 2020.

Student Projects

Besides teaching in lecture and course formats, I advise many scientific theses and research projects. I'm really proud to have advised over 200 amazing scientific student projects, including bachelor's and master's theses, seminar papers, and some really cool research programs. You can find an incomplete list here on my student project page.