Wk 0: Introduction

Wk 1: Games, Play and Design

Exercises: Game Element Identification; Game States; Space of Possibility

Read: Introduction; Chapter 1: Games, Design and Play

Topics:

• The differences between game design, game development and game production
• Games as dynamic systems
• The basic elements of game design:
  • Actions
  • Rules
  • Goals
  • Objects
  • Playspace
  • Players
• From six elements, limitless play experiences
• Space of Possibility
• Game States

Wk 2: Basic Game Design Tools

Exercise: What If… 1

Read: Chapter 2: Basic Game Design Tools

Topics:

• Constraint: Flywrench, Octodad, Treachery in Beatdown City
• Direct and indirect actions: Pinball, SUNBURN!, Proteus
• Goals: Slam City Oracles, Dog Eat Dog, Sunset
• Challenge: Ninja, Perfect Woman
• Skill, strategy, chance and uncertainty: Darts, Roulette, Basketball, Texas Hold’em Poker
• Decision-making and feedback: Chess, Speed Chess, Nidhogg, Howling Dogs
• Abstraction: Go, Tennis, Pong, Pandemic
• Theme: Chess, Way, Kentucky Route Zero
• Storytelling: Braid, Gone Home, Dog Eat Dog, Conversations We Have in My Head
• Context of Play: Tiny Games, Jenga

Wk 3: The Kinds of Play, Part I

Exercise: Mix and Match Game Design 1

Read: Chapter 3: The Kinds of Play

Topics:

• Play styles and play tastes instead of genre and platforms
• Competitive play: Nidhogg, Canabalt, Desert Golfing, Johann Sebastian Joust, Spy Party
• Cooperative play: Pandemic, Portal 2, Way
• Skill-based play: The Witness, Super Meat Boy
• Games of chance and uncertainty: Threes, Android: Netrunner, Candy Land
• Simulation-based play: McDonald’s Videogame, Papers, Please

Wk 4: The Kinds of Play, Part II

Exercise: Mix and Match Game Design 2

Read: Chapter 3: The Kinds of Play

Topics:

• Experience-based play: Dear Esther, Analogue: A Hate Story
• Whimsical play: Roller Coasters, QWOP, Hit Me!, Tenya Wanya Teens
• Role-playing: Lesberation: Trouble in Paradise, The Path
• Performative play: Charades, Twister, Johann Sebastian Joust, Coffee: A Misunderstanding
• Expressive play: Queers in Love at the End of the World, Deadbolt

Wk 5: The Player Experience, Part I

Exercises: What If… 3; Action Theory Analysis; What If… 4; Grokking a Game

Read: Chapter 4: The Player Experience

Topics:

• Action Theory as framework for understanding play
• The Five layers of player experience: sensory, information, interaction, frame, purpose
• The sensory layer
  • Player point of view and player perception: Alabaster, Hugpunx, Thirty Flights of Loving, Journey
• The information layer
  • Reflexive and executive attention: Journey
  • Information spaces: Chess, Android: Netrunner, Basketball
• The interaction layer
  • Affordances: Super Mario Bros., Braid
  • Crampon-Smith’s 5 characteristics of well-designed interactivity: Drop7, basketball, Journey
    • Clear mental model
    • Feedback
    • Navigability
    • Consistency
    • Intuitiveness
  • Failure
• The frame layer: Perfect Woman, Train
• The purpose layer
  • Bartle’s 4 player types
    • Achievers: The Path
    • Explorers: Walden, a game, Proteus
    • Socializers: Dungeons & Dragons, Lesberation: Trouble in Paradise
    • Killers: Dog Eat Dog
• Contexts of play (who, when, where, why): Soccer, Foosball, Hokra

Wk 6: The Iterative Game Design Process

Read: Chapter 5: The Iterative Game Design Process

Exercise: Lightning Round Game Making

Topics:

• Origins of iterative design
  • Shewhart’s “Plan-Do-Study-Act”
  • Dreyfus’ designing for people
  • HCI model
• The iterative game design cycle
  • Conceptualize
  • Prototype
  • Playtest
  • Evaluate
• A repeated process, not a single cycle
• Embracing failure to succeed

Wk 7: Conceptualize Your Game, Part I

Read: Chapter 9: Conceptualizing Your Game

Exercises: Idea Speed Dating; Noun Verb Adjective; Team Formation

Topics:

• Coming up with ideas
• Brainstorming techniques
• Creating teams
• Motivations

Assigned: Game Project Proposal

Wk 8: Conceptualizing Your Game, Part II

Due: Game Project Proposal

Read: Chapter 6: Design Values; Chapter 8: Collaboration & Teamwork

Exercises: From Motivations to Design Values; How Might We… silent brainstorm

Topics:

• Introducing design values
• “How might we…” investigations

Assigned: Team Agreement, Game Design Document

Wk 9: Prototyping Your Game

Due: Team Agreement, Game Design Document

Read: Chapter 10: Prototyping Your Game

Exercise: Create a Paper Prototype; Create a Physical Prototype

Topics:

• Prototypes are playable questions
• Paper prototyping
• Physical prototyping
• Prototyping play

Assigned: Playable Prototype 1

WK 10: Playtesting and Evaluating Your Game, Part I

Due: Playable Prototype 1

Read: Chapter 7: Documenting Your Design; Chapter 11: Playtesting Your Game; Chapter 12: Evaluating Your Game

Exercises: Playtest Plan; Playtest!; Compare Playtest Notes; Playtest Outcomes and Solutions

Topics:

• Getting answers through playtesting
• Preparing for a playtest
• Running a playtest: introduce, observe, listen, discuss
• After a playtest
• The differences between input and feedback
• Reviewing playtest results
• Conceptualizing solutions: review, incubate, brainstorm, decide, document

Assigned: Revised Game Design Document, Playable Prototype 2

Wk 11: Playtesting and Evaluating Your Game, Part II

Due: Revised Game Design Document, Playable Prototype 2

Read: Chapter 8: Collaboration & Teamwork; Chapter 13, Moving From Design to Production (case studies)

Exercises: Playtest!; Playtest Note Review

Topics:

• Collaboration and conflict
• Different approaches to iteration
  • The Metagame
  • Johann Sebastian Joust
  • The Path
  • Queers in Love at the End of the World

Assigned: Core Game Prototype

Wk 12: Work Session

Due: Core Game Prototype

Assigned: Complete Game Prototype

Wk 13: Final Play Session

Due: Complete Game Prototype

Playtest session