| WEEK |
DATE |
TOPIC |
ASSIGNMENT *** |
CRITICAL QUESTIONS |
| Week 1 |
Tue Feb 2 |
Introduction to the course |
You must start a game journal. See exercise 1.4 of
GDW for details. |
Why do you play games? |
| Thu Feb 4 |
What Games Are |
Read this article
| What makes something a game? What makes something a
good game? Do you agree with Costikyan's definition of a
game? Why or why not? |
| Week 2 |
Tue Feb 9 |
Pattern Recognition and Tic-Tac-Toe |
Play Tic-Tac-Toe with some friends and/or family and
answer the critical questions in your game journal |
Analyze Tic-Tac-Toe using Costikyan's game
elements (decision-making, goals, opposition, managing resources, game
tokens, informaion). What decisions does a player make? What are the
goals of the game? What provides opposition for the player? What are the
resources and how does the player manage those resources? What kind of
information is a player given to use in making decisions? Did you like to
play Tic-Tac-Toe when you were a kid? Why or why not? Do you like
the game now? Why or why not? Why do people typically stop playing
Tic-Tac-Toe as they grow older? What changes would make
Tic-Tac-Toe more interesting? |
| Thu Feb 11 |
The Role of the Game Designer |
GDW Chapter 1 and do Exercises 1.3 and 1.5 (in your game
journal) |
What does it take to become a game designer? Where do game
designers get their ideas? What is a "playcentric design process"? What
is a "player experience goal"? What is the "game design process"? Why is
playtesting so important to good game design? |
| Week 3 |
Tue Feb 16 |
Formal Elements of Games |
- GDW Chapter 3 and make sure you play at least one
game outside of class and do Exercise 1.4 (in your game journal) regarding
the experience you have playing the game.
What are the formal elements of games? What would
Costikyan say about War? What would the author of textbook say
about War? |
|
| Thu Feb 18 |
Analyzing Games |
No new reading but First Game Analysis Paper is due.
Details will be handed out in class. |
What makes a good game analysis? How should papers in
this class be written? |
| Week 4 |
Tue Feb 23 |
Dramatic Elements of Games |
GDW Chapter 4 and complete Exercise 4.5 in your game journal |
What are the dramatic elements of games? Do dramatic
elements make games better? Are dramatic elements necessary? What is
"flow"? Would dramatic elements make War more interesting? |
| Thu Feb 25 |
Revised Game Analysis Papers due |
EXAM 1 on article and GDW Chapters 1, 3 and 4 |
NONE |
| Week 5 |
Tue Mar 2 |
Games as Systems |
GDW Chapter 5 and complete Exercises 5.1-5.4 using the card
game War. Be sure to record the results of these exercises in your
game journal |
What are the objects of War? What are the properties
of those objects? Behaviors? What are the relationships between the
objects in War? Can we make War more interesting by
changing something about its system dynamics? Does War have an
economy? Should it? What kind of information structure does War
have? |
| Thu Mar 4 |
Playtesting War Modifications |
Describe (in writing) how to play your new game so that
someone may playtest it without help from you |
How do we describe our games unambiguously so that someone
else may play them? Is your new game better than the original game
of War? Why or why not? |
| Week 6 |
Tue Mar 9 |
Presenting War Modifications |
5-7 Minute Presentations on War modifications |
What are the rules of your new game? Do these rules
make the game more interesting to play? What changes are most
important for any improvements you saw? |
| Thu Mar 11 |
Presenting War Modifications continued |
More Presentations |
None |
| Week 7 |
Tue Mar 16 |
Conceptualizing a New Game |
GDW Chapter 6 and complete one of the brainstorming
exercises on pages 150-155 in the text. Be sure to record the
results in your game journal. The goal of these brainstorming
exercises is to come up with some interesting player experience
goals. |
What interests you in life? Which of these interests might
make a good game? |
| Thu Mar 18 |
Continue planning your new game |
No new reading |
None |
| Week 8 |
Tue Mar 23 |
SPRING BREAK |
None |
None |
| Thu Mar 25 |
SPRING BREAK |
None |
None |
| Week 9 |
Tue Mar 28 |
NO CLASS--Team meetings with the instructor |
Bring your game journal and Exercise 6.7 (page 1162) results
for three game possibilities to your team meeting |
What do you want to say with your new game? What is
your message? |
| Thu Mar 30 |
NO CLASS--Team meetings with the instructor |
Bring your game journal and Exercise 6.7 (page 162) results
for three game possibilities to your team meeting |
What do you want to say with your new game? What is
your message? |
| Week 10 |
Tue Apr 4 |
Prototyping Your Game and Game Design Session |
- GDW Chapter 7
- Hand-in a treatment for your game (see Exercise
6.8 on page 163). This will be one treatment for your entire
group. In addition, bring materials to work on your game.
|
What materials do you need to create for your game prototype?
What pieces of the game are most important and should be prototyped first? |
| Thu Apr 6 |
Playtesting and Game Design Session |
GDW Chapter 9 |
What kind of playtesting will you do? What do you want to
know from your playtesters? In addition, bring materials to work on
your game. |
| Week 11 |
Mon Nov 16 |
NONE |
EXAM 2 on GDW Chapters 5-7 and 9 |
None |
| Wed Nov 18 |
Early Playtesting Session |
- Bring your prototype to class
- Hand in a short paper (3-5 pages--1 per
team) describing your game. Be sure to check the rubric for this
paper in the game project assignment description document.
|
What do the playtesters think of your game? Is your
game meeting its goals? |
| Week 12 |
Mon Nov 23 |
Functionality, Completeness and Balance and Game Design
Session |
GDW Chapter 9 and Bring game materials to class. |
What do you do with the results of your first
playtesting session? Is your game functional? Is your game
internally complete? Is your game balanced? What did the playtesters say
about the game? How can the game be improved to better meet the goals of
the game? How can the game's message be strengthened? |
| Wed Nov 25 |
Playtesting Session |
- Bring your revised prototype to
class
- Hand-in a short paper (3-5 pages--1 paper per
team) explaining the changes you made to the game. Be sure to check the
rubric for this paper in the game project assignment description document.
|
What do the playtesters think of your game? Is your
game meeting its goals? |
| Week 13 |
Mon Nov 30 |
Fun and Accessibility |
GDW Chapter 11 |
Is your game fun? Can you make changes to make it more fun?
Is your game accessible? Can you make changes to make it more
accessible? |
| Wed Dec 2 |
NONE |
EXAM 3 on GDW Chapters 10 and 11 |
NONE |
| Week 14 |
Mon Dec 7 |
Game Design Session |
Bring game materials to class. |
What additional changes should you make to the game? How can
the game be improved to better meet the goals of the game? How can the
game's message be strengthened? What more do you want to know from
playtesters? |
| Wed Dec 9 |
Final Playtesting Session |
- Bring your revised prototype to
class
- Hand-in a short paper (3-5 pages--1 paper per
team) explaining the changes you made to the game. Be sure to check the
rubric for this paper in game project assignment description document.
|
What do the playtesters think of your game? Is your
game meeting its goals? |
| Week 16 |
Mon Dec 14 (2:30pm-5pm) |
FINAL EXAM PERIOD |
Project Presentations and Games DUE. Be
sure to check the game project assignment description document to see what
you are supposed to hand in. |
NONE |
