Class overview

Creative Game Design & Development (CGDD) is a fourteen-week course that guides students through the artistic and technical foundations of game creation by emphasizing the idea that video games are artistic expressions derived from real life. Across three major projects—a non-coding conceptual project, a gameplay-focused design project, and a narrative-driven playable storytelling project—students learn how to transform everyday experiences, emotions, and observations into meaningful interactive forms. Through iterative design, critique, and documentation, students develop the ability to move from raw inspiration to coherent mechanics, from personal experience to expressive digital worlds. The course integrates creative inquiry with hands-on practice, encouraging students to explore how games reflect life, shape imagination, and communicate ideas through systems, space, and play.