PSU CMDI 1200 Creating Games
International Game Developers Association
Full name: PSU CMDI 1200 Creating Games
| Games Education |
|---|
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| Course |
Table of contents |
[edit] Teachers
[edit] Instructors
[edit] Guest speakers
- None
[edit] Course Background Information
[edit] Location
Plymouth State University, Plymouth, NH, USA
[edit] Classification
Primary classification:
Conceptual Game Design
Practical Game Design
Secondary classification:
Boardgame Design
Playtesting
[edit] Student background needed
There are no special requirements for the students' backgrounds. The course fulfills the Creative Thought Direction within our general education program.
[edit] Course prerequisites
Because the course fulfills the Creative Thought Direction in the gen ed program, it cannot have any prerequisites.
[edit] Time periods
The course meets twice a week (for an hour and fifteen minutes per meeting) for a 16-week semester.
[edit] Course Structure
[edit] Course description
Much has been written about the possibility that games could become the defining objects of popular culture in the new century. In this course, we will use games as a medium through which we can express our creativity. We will study the principles of game design so we can use them to critique existing games as well as to guide the design of new games. Topics to be discussed include the structure of compelling games, the role of games in society, meaningful play in games, games as simulations, games as narratives, and the culture of gaming. Creating, play testing, critiquing and revising games of all kinds will be the primary activities of the course.
[edit] Course learning objectives
1. Explain why games matter to humans in general and to this society in particular.
2. Analyze and critique game elements such as operational rules, underlying formal structural rules, implicit rules and narratives in terms of the role they play in creating a compelling game.
3. Recognize and explain the patterns underlying a game.
4. Explain why a particular game is or is not compelling.
5. Develop goals for a new game design.
6. Engage in the iterative process of design, implement, play test, critique and revise to develop a game.
7. Elicit constructive criticism from play testers regarding which game elements work and which need revision.
8. Use information technology to support the iterative game development process.
9. Use information technology to present ideas about games.
[edit] Week by week topics
Introduction to the Course
How the Brain Works
What Games Are
What Games Teach Us
What Games Aren’t
Different Fun for Different Folks
The Problem with Learning
The Problem with People
Games in Context
The Ethics of Entertainment
Where Games Should Go
Taking Their Rightful Place
Presentations of Games
[edit] Course Materials & Facilities Used
Here you can link to and/or describe books and other materials you used for this course. Feel free to create new pages for each item here if a page for it does not yet exist.
Books
A Theory of Fun for Game Design by Raph Koster
Hoyle’s Rules of Games by Albert Morehead and Geoffrey Mott-Smith
Other materials
1 deck of cards
Papers, magazines, videos (add links to online materials)
Software (engines, tools)
This could me a mix of external links to software on other servers and links to other wiki pages outlining those tools, which could be useful.
Syllabus
(link to an uploaded syllabus file or external storage location)
Slides
(link to each file's storage location)
Assessment materials
e.g. tests, quizzes, assignment requirements, project requirements
Digital media used in class
e.g. Video, Multimedia sources, Audio
(link to each file's storage location)
Case studies
(link to each file's storage location) or each respective wiki page
Tutorial files
(link to each file's storage location)
Other materials
(link to an uploaded resources -- e.g. research papers -- or external storage location)
[edit] Analysis of learning methods
[edit] What worked
The course will be offered for the first time in the Spring 2007 semester and I will update this page once I know what worked and what didn't work.
[edit] What didn't work
Please discuss what techniques didn’t work as well as you had hoped
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