M. Sc. Cognitive Sciences, Learning and Technology (Game Design)

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). 

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:
• Gathering material;
• Game concepts;
• Character concepts;
• Environment concepts.

Unit V

Unit V – Writing a Functional Specification

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

Course Objectives:

• Gain an understanding of the terminology of game design (mechanics, dynamics, aesthetics, etc.)
• Gain an understanding of why and how to design games
• 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

Materials

• 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.

Textbooks, Papers, Resources:

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