Course

Unit I

Unit I – Introduction to Games

• Course overview
• Game history; Variety of games: Serious games. Educational Games, Games as cultural intervention.
• Basic elements of the game

Unit II

Unit II – Non-Digital Games. Ideating and Pitching

• Game goals and rules.
• Player’s experience, concept of chance, game feedback.
• Paper Prototyping.
• Game pitch.

Unit III

Unit III – Digital Games

• Variety of video games: 2D and 3D, pervasive, VR, AR.
• Game genres.
• MDA framework.
• Game mechanics, dynamics, aesthetics.
• Paper prototyping for an interactive game.
• Optional: digital prototyping.

Unit IV

Unit IV – Developing Further the Game Concept

• Narrative design, storytelling, linear vs non-linear games.
• Research and development process:
  1. Gathering material;
  2. Game concepts;
  3. Character concepts;
  4. Environment concepts.

Unit V

Unit V – Writing a Functional Specification

• Game documentation:
  1. Pitch document;
  2. Game description: functional specification.

Prerequisite: No prerequisites, knowledge of Unity Game Engine knowledge would be a plus (if not, the students can develop prototypes in other media of their choice).

Course Objectives:

1. Gain an understanding of the terminology of game design (mechanics, dynamics, aesthetics, etc.)
2. Gain an understanding of why and how to design games
3. Gain practical knowledge of the game design steps and approaches

Course Outcomes:

By the end of this course, students will:

• Understand what a game is
• Understand what are the main components of the game
• Know what are the main steps of the game design process including:
  • ideating (game narrative, mechanics, characters, rules, goals)
  • pitching
  • prototyping
  • developing functional specifications of the game, etc.

Skills:
By the end of this course, students will be able to:

• Define and properly use the game design terminology “game”, “game narrative”, “game mechanics”, “game narrative”, etc.
• Classify the game types and genres
• Choose the appropriate genre, storyline, characters, and game mechanics to create a desired game experience
• Give a pitch on a game idea, and provide and receive critiques
• Create an interactive game prototype and test it with the game’s target audience, analyze the user’s feedback, and iteratively improve the prototype
• Write a functional specification to prepare the game idea for the development phase

CO-PO Mappings

Evaluation Pattern:

Students are required to bring a laptop to class to participate in both the in-class activities and project working sessions. During the class, students might be creating paper prototypes, documents, presentations, pictures, and videos.

1. Rules of Play: Game Design Fundamentals, Katie Salen and Eric Zimmerman
2. The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses, Jesse Schell
3. Thompson, Jim, Berbank-Green Barnaby, Cusworth, Nic. Game Design: Principles, Practices, Techniques. John Wiley and Sons, 2007
4. Additional materials – TBD.