International Game Developers Association

Full name: Digital Game Design

Games Education
Course

Contents 1 Teachers 1.1 Instructors 2 Course Background Information 2.1 Location 2.2 Classification 2.3 Student background needed 2.4 Course prerequisites 2.5 Time periods 3 Course Structure 3.1 Course description 3.2 Course learning objectives 3.3 Week by week topics 4 Course Materials & Facilities Used 5 Analysis of learning methods 5.1 What worked 5.2 What didn't work

Teachers

Instructors

• Ian Schreiber

Course Background Information

Location

Ohio University

Classification

Primary classification: Conceptual Game Design

Secondary classification: Play Mechanics, Generating new ideas for the development and evaluation of games, Abstract design elements

Student background needed

This is an introductory course in Game Design. No background is required other than an interest in learning about Game Design.

Course prerequisites

None

Time periods

• Taught in Spring 2007, over 10 weeks.
• Class meets twice per week, two hours per class.

Course Structure

Course description

An introduction to the conceptual and theoretical foundations of the field of game design.

Course learning objectives

By the end of this course, students should be familiar with the (relatively small) body of work that is accepted in the game industry as the theoretical foundation of game design.

Students will also be comfortable enough in processes to start designing their own games, as well as critically analyzing other people’s games.

Week by week topics

Week 1: Course introduction. Overview of Games and Game Design. Importance of developing a critical vocabulary.

Week 2: Formal elements of games. Game Mechanics.

Week 3: Game Dynamics. Types of Fun. Types of Players.

Week 4: Game Aesthetics. Dramatic elements in Games.

Week 5: Nonlinear storytelling. Midterm exam.

Week 6: Overview of the iterative process. Idea generation and Brainstorming.

Week 7: Paper prototyping.

Week 8: Playtesting.

Week 9: Tuning and Game Balance.

Week 10: Special game balance techniques. Review of the course. Areas for further study.

Course Materials & Facilities Used

Books

Required text: Game Design Workshop (Fullerton, Swain & Hoffman)

Suggested additional reading: A Theory of Fun for Game Design (Koster) Understanding Comics (McCloud)

Other materials

Online readings:

Understanding Games: http://kongregate.com/games/pixelate/understanding-games-episode-1 http://kongregate.com/games/pixelate/understanding-games-episode-2 http://kongregate.com/games/pixelate/understanding-games-episode-3

I Have No Words and I Must Design: http://www.costik.com/nowords.html

Formal Abstract Design Tools: http://www.gamasutra.com/features/19990716/design_tools_01.htm

MDA Framework: http://www.cs.northwestern.edu/~hunicke/MDA.pdf

Natural Funativity: http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20041110/falstein_01.shtml

Clubs, Diamonds, Hearts, Spades: Players who Suit MUDs: http://www.mud.co.uk/richard/hcds.htm

What Every Game Developer Needs to Know about Story: http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20050727/sutherland_01.shtml

Into the Woods: a Practical Guide to the Hero’s Journey: http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20050617/bates_01.shtml

A Point of View: http://www.theinspiracy.com/ArPOV.htm

Syllabus

(link to an uploaded syllabus file or external storage location)

Assessment materials

Undergraduates had ten homework assignments, all from the text:

• Exercise 2.1
• Exercise 2.9
• Exercises 3.5 and 3.7
• Exercises 5.6 and 5.7
• Exercise 4.1
• Exercise 6.2
• Exercises 6.8 and 6.9
• Exercise 7.9
• Exercises 9.1 and 9.2
• Exercise 9.3

In addition there was a midterm and a final exam. That is all of the graded material.

Graduate students had some additional exercises (3.2, 3.13, 8.1, 8.2, 8.8, 9.4, 9.5, 9.12). In place of a midterm and final exam, there was a paper and a project. The paper involves researching in-depth one famous game designer and reporting on their personal approach to game design, similarities between their games and likely influences from their life on their designs, and changing trends in their games over time. The project, mostly driven by the latter half of the exercises, is a paper prototype for a digital game, taken through a rigorous iterative playtesting process.

Analysis of learning methods

What worked

Please discuss what techniques worked well

What didn't work

Please discuss what techniques didn’t work as well as you had hoped

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