Readings are taken from the course text and other sources, listed by session in the table below. Lab sessions also include a list of games that may be played in class. All assignments must be turned in at the beginning of class.
[CGD] = Brathwaite, Brenda, and Ian Schreiber. Challenges for Game Designers: Non-Digital Exercises for Video Game Designers. Boston, MA: Charles River Media/Course Technology, 2009. ISBN: 9781584505808.
SES # | TOPICS | READINGS / Games |
---|---|---|
1 | Introductions and basic terminology | |
2 | Iterative Design |
[CGD] Chapter 1 Zimmerman, Eric. "Play as Research: The Iterative Design Process." July 8, 2003. GamesUno, Mattel, 1971. Pit, Winning Moves, 1904. Fluxx, Looney Labs, 1997. Falling, Titanic Games, 1998. Chez Geek, Steve Jackson Games, 1999. |
3 |
Where do ideas for games come from? Core dynamics, MDA, verbs |
[CGD] Chapter 2 Hunicke, Robin, Marc LeBlanc, and Robert Zubek. "MDA: A Formal Approach to Game Design and Game Research." In Proceedings of the Challenges in Game AI Workshop at the 19th National Conference on Artificial Intelligence. San Jose, CA: AAAI Press, 2004. (PDF) Church, Doug. "Formal Abstract Design Tools." Gamasutra, July 16 1999. |
4 |
Prototyping Guest Lecture, Sara Verrilli, Singapore-MIT GAMBIT Game Lab | Fullerton, Tracy. "Playtesting." Chapter 8 in Game Design Workshop. Boston, MA: Morgan Kaufmann, 2008. ISBN: 9780240809748. |
5 |
Assignment 1 (Card Game) Brainstorming and Team Formation Guest Lecture, Abe Stein, Singapore-MIT GAMBIT Game Lab |
Osborn, Alex F. "Creative Collaboration by Groups." Chapter 12 in Applied Imagination. New York, NY: Scribner, 1953. ISBN: 9780930222734. GamesIncan Gold, Gryphon Games, 2006. Saboteur, Z-Man Games, 2004. Crunch, Exile Game Studio, 2009. Chrononauts, Looney Labs, 2000. |
6 | The Social Function of Games |
Church, Doug. "Formal Abstract Design Tools." Gamasutra, July 16, 1999. Caillois, Roger. "The Social Function of Games." Chapter 3 in Man, Play, and Games. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 2001. ISBN: 9780240809748. |
7 | Chance, Probability, Alea |
[CGD] Chapter 5 Caillois, Roger. "Competition and Chance." Chapter 8 in Man, Play and Games. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 2001. ISBN: 9780252070334. |
8 | Strategy, Skill, and Chance, Part 1 |
[CGD] Chapter 6 Poundstone, William. "Game Theory." The Game Design Reader: A Rules of Play Anthology. Edited by Katie Salen and Eric Zimmerman. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2005. ISBN:9780262195362. GamesMunchkin, Steve Jackson Games, 2001. Bohnanza, Rio Grande Games, 1997. Bang!, Da Vinci, 2002. Lunch Money, Atlas, 1996. |
9 | Strategy, Skill, and Chance, Part 2 | [CGD] Chapters 7 and 8 |
10 | Assignment 1 Internal Playtest | |
11 | Adding and Subtracting Mechanics |
[CGD] Chapter 14 Juul, Jesper. "The Open and The Closed: Games of Emergence and Games of Progression." In Computer Games and Digital Cultures Conference Proceedings. Edited by Frans Mäyrä. Tampere, Finland: Tampere University Press, 2002. GamesSan Juan, Rio Grande Games, 2004. Race for the Galaxy, Rio Grande Games, 2007. Dominion, Rio Grande Games, 2008. Naval Battles: World War II on the High Seas, Mayfair Games, 2004. |
12 | Knowing Your Players |
[CGD] Chapter 11 Bartle, Richard. "Hearts, Clubs, Diamonds, Spades: Players Who Suit MUDs." April 1996. |
13 | Assignment 1 Playtest with GAMBIT Staff | |
14 | Learning an Unfamiliar Genre |
[CGD] Chapter 12 GamesCarcassonne, Rio Grande Games, 2000. Blokus, Mattel, 2000. Flibbix, Merillian Games, 2008. Stratego, Milton Bradley, 1947. Ticket to Ride, Days of Wonder, 2004. Excape, Rio Grande Games, 1998. |
15 | Holiday – No Class | Leacock, Matt. "Cooperation and Engagement: What Can Board Games Teach Us?" April 30, 2008. YouTube. Accessed on March 7, 2011. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdTVcFo2EQw |
16 | Assignment 1 Showcase | |
17 | Game Bits |
[CGD] Chapter 4 Norman, Donald. "The Psychopathology of Everyday Things." and "Knowing What To Do." Chapters 1 and 4 in The Design of Everyday Things. New York, NY: Basic Books, 2002. ISBN: 9780465067107. GamesThurn and Taxis, Rio Grande Games, 2006. The Settlers of Catan, Mayfair Games, 1995. Ad Astra, Fantasy Flight Games, 2009. Roll Through The Ages, Gryphon Games, 2009. Scrabble, Hasbro, 1948. |
18 | Puzzles |
[CGD] Chapter 3 Kim, Scott. "What is a Puzzle?" |
19 |
Abstraction and Simulation Assignment 2 (Board Game) Team Formation | Starr, Paul. "Seductions of Sim; Policy as a Simulation Game." The American Prospect, March 21, 1994. |
20 | What is Intellectual Property? |
[CGD] Chapter 9 GamesEndeavor, Z-Man Games, 2009. Pandemic, Z-Man Games, 2008. Scotland Yard, Ravensburger, 1983. Mob City, Van der Veer Games, 2005. Container, Valley Games, Inc., 2007. |
21 |
Games as Teaching Tools Guest Panel, Konstantin Mitgutsch, Dan Roy, Scot Osterweil, Education Arcade/Learning Games Network | [CGD] Chapters 18 and 19 |
22 | Assignment 2 Internal Playtest | |
23 |
Creating Sequels Guest Lecture, Sara Verrilli, Singapore-MIT GAMBIT Game Lab |
[CGD] Chapter 10 GamesBattlestar Galactica, Fantasy Flight Games, 2008. Brass, FRED Distribution, 2007. Puerto Rico, Rio Grande Games, 2002. Thebes, Queen/Rio Grande Games, 2007. Chinatown, Alea, 1999. |
24 | Assignment 2 Playtest with GAMBIT Staff | |
25 |
"Fiction and Stories in Games." Guest Lecture, Clara Fernandez-Vara, Singapore-MIT GAMBIT Game Lab |
Johnson, Soren. "Theme Is Not Meaning." Part I, Part II. Designer Notes, June 2010. Juul, Jesper. "Fiction." Chapter 4 in Half-Real. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2005. ISBN: 9780262101103. |
26 | Heavyweights |
GamesAgricola, Z-Man Games, 2007. Le Havre, Lookout Games, 2008. Power Grid, Rio Grande Games, 2004. Cosmic Encounter, Fantasy Flight Games, 2008. Caylus, Rio Grande Games, 2005. |
27 |
Games As Art Guest Lecture, Abe Stein, Singapore-MIT GAMBIT Game Lab |
[CGD] Chapter 17 Frasca, Gonzalo. "Videogames Of The Oppressed." Electronic Book Review, June 24, 2004. |
28 | Guest Lecture, Scott Nicholson, Library Game Lab, Syracuse University | Have games ready for playtesting! |
29 | Assignment 2 Showcase | |
30 |
Clients for Assignment 3 (Game for a Client) Visit Guest Lecture, Cezar Cimpeanu and James Cartreine |
Rueve, Marie, and Randon S. Welton. "Violence and Mental Illness." Psychiatry 5 (May 2008): 34-48. Schwartz, Thomas L., and Tricia L. Park. "Assaults by Patients on Psychiatric Residents: A Survey and Training Recommendations." Psychiatric Services 50 (March 1999): 381-383. Ogloff, James R. P., and Michael Daffern. "The Dynamic Appraisal of Situational Aggression: An Instrument to Assess Risk for Imminent Aggression in Psychiatric Inpatients." Behavioral Sciences and the Law 24 (2006): 799-813. Antonius, Daniel, et al. "Psychiatric Assessment of Aggressive Patients: A Violent Attack on a Resident." American Journal of Psychiatry 167 (March 2010): 253-259. DSM-IV Criteria for Substance Use Disorders. "Schizophrenia." DSM-IV-TR #295.1-295.3, 295.90. |
31 | Assignment 3 Brainstorming and Team Formation | |
32 | Live Action Games | |
33 |
Ethics in Games Guest Lecture, Mia Consalvo, Comparative Media Studies | Sicart, Miguel. "The Ethics of Game Design." Chapter 7 in The Ethics of Computer Games. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2009. ISBN: 9780262012652. |
34 | Assignment 3 Group Work | |
35 | Assignment 3 Internal Playtest | |
36 | Assignment 3 Group Work | |
37 | Assignment 3 Playtest with GAMBIT Staff | |
38 | Assignment 3 Group Work | |
39 | Assignment 3 Showcase |