International Game Developers Association

Game Design Workshop USC School of Cinema-Television, CTIN 488

Games Education
Course

Contents 1 Teachers 1.1 Instructors 1.2 Guest speakers 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

• Chris Swain
• Tracy Fullerton

Guest speakers

• Too be added later

Course Background Information

Location

University of Southern California

Classification

Primary classification:

• Conceptual Game Design
• Practical Game Design
• Game Programming
• Visual Design

Secondary classification:'

Student background needed

N/A

Course prerequisites

N/A

Time periods

Spring Semester course

• 4 hours/week, lecture/lab

Course Structure

Course description

The growth digital entertainment is creating tremendous opportunities for creative game designers and developers. The purpose of this workshop is to examine models and strategies for creating electronic games that are based in solid play mechanics.

Course learning objectives

Students will:

experience the fundamentals of game design through the study of classic games in both traditional and electronic form design their own games and playtest/critique fellow students’ games

The course is designed to provide the foundation of knowledge for becoming a professional game designer.

Week by week topics

Week 1 (8/24): Overview of the Course and Introduction to Game Structures

Week 1 Lecture: Overview of the course. What is a game? Formal and dramatic structures of games. Prototyping, playtesting and iterative design.

Reading:

“Game Design Workshop”, by Fullerton and Swain

· Chapter 1-2

Week 1 Lab: Re-design a simple game system

· Thursday afternoon section meets 8/26

· Tuesday afternoon section meets 8/31

Week 2 (8/31): Formal Elements of Games: Objectives, Procedures, Systems and Rules

Week 2 Lecture: Discussion of elements that make up the formal structures of game systems. Analysis of game rules from classic games.

Reading:

“Game Design Workshop”, by Fullerton and Swain

· Chapters 3 and 6

Week 2 Lab: Conceptualizing and brainstorming game ideas

· Thursday afternoon section meets 9/2

· Tuesday afternoon section meets 9/7

Week 3 (9/7): Dramatic Elements of Games: Metaphor, Characters, Roles, and Story

Week 3 Lecture: Applying traditional tools of drama to game design. Analysis of character, plot, story and metaphor in well-known games.

Reading:

“Game Design Workshop”, by Fullerton and Swain

· Chapters 4 and 7

Week 3 Lab: Prototyping game systems. Design Project #1 Assigned: Game variant prototype.

· Thursday afternoon section meets 9/9

· Tuesday afternoon section meets 9/21

Week 4 (9/14): No class or lab meetings

Week 5 (9/21): Dynamic Elements of Games: Emergence

Week 5 Lecture: Complexity Theory, Conway's Game of Life, Gearheads, SimCity, RollerCoaster Tycoon. Testing your game for functionality, completeness and balance.

Reading:

Game Design Workshop

· Chapters 5, 8 and 9

Week 5 Lab: In-Class Playtesting for Design Project #1

· Thursday afternoon section meets 9/23

· Tuesday afternoon section meets 9/28

Week 6 (9/28): Creating Interesting Choices

Quiz #1

Week 6 Lecture: Game theory, Minimax theory, strategy games. Tic-tac-toe, Connect Four, Chess, Warcraft II.

Reading:

Game Design Workshop

· Chapters 10

Week 6 Lab: Designing better choices: variants of Design Project #1

· Thursday afternoon section meets 9/30

· Tuesday afternoon section meets 10/5

Week 7 (10/5): Social Play

Week 7 Lecture: Social roles and player interaction. Killer, Pictionary, You Don’t Know Jack, Acrophobia, NetWits.

Week 7 Lab: Designing for social play: variants of Design Project #1

· Thursday afternoon section meets 10/7

· Tuesday afternoon section meets 10/12

Week 8 (10/12): Managing Resources

Week 8 Lecture: Types of resources, information structures, game economies. Magic: The Gathering, Settlers of Catan, Pit.

Week 8 Lab: Play and analyze Settlers of Catan

· Thursday afternoon section meets 10/14

· Tuesday afternoon section meets 10/19

'Week 9 (10/19): Puzzle Games

Week 9 Lecture: Set, Tetris, Smart Games, MetaSquares, Incredible Machine, Myst.

Week 9 Lab: Designing levels for a puzzle game

· Thursday afternoon section meets 10/21

· Tuesday afternoon section meets 10/26

Week 10 (10/26): Narrative Play

Week 10 Lecture: Development of interactive drama. Interfilm, Kino-Automat, Eliza, Catz. Social

Week 10 Lab: Designing levels for a strategy game

· Thursday afternoon section meets 10/28

· Tuesday afternoon section meets 11/2

Week 11 (11/2): Role-Playing Games

Quiz #2

Week 11 Lecture: Dungeons & Dragons, Hack, Diablo, Ultima Online. M.U.L.E., Habitat, Battle.net, Sony Station.

Week 11 Lab: Designing levels for a roleplaying game

· Thursday afternoon section meets 11/4

· Tuesday afternoon section meets 11/9

Week 12 (11/9): Online Communities

Week 12 Lecture: Principles of online community design. Design Project #2 Assigned: Original game prototype.

Week 12 Lab: Avatars Online documentary (or Gamers documentary)

· Thursday afternoon section meets 11/11

· Tuesday afternoon section meets 11/16

Week 13 (11/16): Concept through Delivery: Stages of Development Week 13 Lecture: Discussion of teams, process and documentation. Design and planning documents from actual products will be distributed. Scheduling & Budgeting exercise.

Reading:

Game Design Workshop

· Chapters 12 and 14

Week 13 Lab: In-Class Playtesting for Design Project #2

· Thursday afternoon section meets 11/18

· Tuesday afternoon section meets 11/23

Week 14 (11/23): Business of Games

Week 14 Lecture: Game market statistics, publisher/developer relationships, royalties & deal structures.

Reading:

Game Design Workshop

· Chapters 15 and 16

Week 14 Lab: In-Class Playtesting for Design Project #2

· Thursday afternoon section meets 12/2

· Tuesday afternoon section meets 11/30

Week 15 (11/30): Guest Speaker

Quiz #3

Week 15 Guest Speaker: TBD, Quiz #3 and Course Wrap-Up

Week 15 Lab:

· Thursday afternoon section Week 14 lab is on 12/2

· Tuesday afternoon section – no lab on 12/7

Course Materials & Facilities Used

Books

Game Design Workshop: Designing, Prototyping and Playtesting Games

Syllabus

CTIN488

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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