Game Design is a Process!
Over the course of the semester students engaged in 9 game design labs to establish a design skill set (e.g., to change their point of view from a game player to a game maker, and then to begin making) and to iterate through their game-plan ideas. Featured below is a photo-diary of our learning journey, from novice to designers, over the span of a semester.
Where to start?
Playing games makes good sense.
In the first learning lab students explored the difference between play and games and then played some games to start identifying game features.
Many more games were played throughout the semester as well, both board and video (mobile).
By mid-semester we were ready to start trying our hands at designing. First round design challenge: Found Objects. Objective: Using these items, make a game out of them.
Challenge met!
Next round design challenge: Working from a theme.
Objective: Using the items given, choose a theme from the list and make a game out of them.
Challenge met, again!
After the success of the game-design-challenges students dug into their own game designs.
During lab students play-tested their designs and offered each other useful feedback
In November we took our show on the road, and presented three of our game prototypes at the Seattle Indies "Game-Education-Industry-Collider"
We received a very enthusiastic welcome at the event. Students interacted with game designers and developers, recieving substantial praise and ideas for how to improve their designs.
Media coverage of the event captures the excitement: We "tabled" for 8 straight hours. What an experience!
In this video Prf. K. had been talking non-stop for many hours and felt a little delirious, though still described the goals of our work relatively coherently :)
The class and our projects were a resounding success. Well done, all!