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Calendar

Instructors

[PT] = Philip Tan
[CFV] = Clara Fernandez-Vara
[JJ] = Jesper Juul
[DR] = Doris Rusch

SES # TOPICS KEY DATES
1

Lecture: class and syllabus introduction

What games and sports do the students/instructors play? Introduction to first reading, syllabus, writing expectations [PT]

  
2 Lecture: design [JJ]  
3 Workshop: introduction to playtesting [DR]  
4 Lecture: types of fun and game history [JJ]  
5 Lecture: game design patterns and twenty formal game questions [DR, CFV]  
6 Guest workshop, Scot Osterweil: playtesting exercise – poker variants  
7 Guest lecture, Barry Kudrowitz: toys First essay due
8 Workshop: fortunetelling, games of chance and dice (Roulette, Bingo, Tarot) [CFV]  
9 Lecture: competition and chance [PT]  
10 Lecture: the player [CFV]  
11 Workshop: Doris' 1000 blank cards [DR]  
12 Lecture: card and guessing games [PT]  
13 Lecture: information [PT]  
14 Workshop: initial presentation poker deck game, playtest to get feedback, and suggest changes [all]  
15 Workshop: racing games (Parcheesi, Life, Goose, Mille Bournes) [CFV]  
16 Lecture: racing games [CFV] Second essay due
17 Guest lecture, Dennis Loo: gambling and probability  
18 Lecture: space games [CFV]  
19 Guest lecture, Denis Dyack  
20 Workshop: Go, Chess, Xiangqi, Hasami Shogi, Draughts [PT] Check-in with the instructors about your board game design
21 Lecture: possibility space [PT]
22 Lecture: feedback and emergence [JJ]
23 Workshop: board game playtest  
24 Lecture: bending and breaking [JJ]  
25 Guest lecture, Marc LeBlanc First team project due
26 Workshop: LAN party (conflict, competition, and cooperation) [PT]  
27 Lecture: digital games [JJ]  
28 Lecture: abstraction and simulation [all]  
29 Lecture: social play [JJ]  
30 Workshop: narrative play (riddles, puzzles, and word games) [DR, CFV]  
31 Guest lecture, Sam Ford: wrestling, meaning, and symbols  
32 Guest lecture, Joshua Green: That's Just Not Cricket!  
33 Guest workshop, Stephen Balzac: live-action roleplaying game  
34 Guest lecture, Stephen Balzac: exploiting the constraints  
35 Guest lecture, Jason Haas: improv games  
36 Workshop: playtest for the final project  
37 Guest lecture, Chris Weaver  
38 Lecture: course evaluations and postmortem [PT] Second team project due