CISC 226 explores techniques for the design and evaluation of digital games. Digital games (encompassing computer games, console games and mobile games) have become tremendously popular, with annual sales now exceeding Hollywood's box office. Game design is a creative activity, requiring inspiration to spark new ideas, collaboration among the many types of professionals required to create and evaluate a game idea.
After completing this course, students will understand the theory and practice of game design. The course will cover game design and development processes, creative techniques for stimulating the generation of design ideas, techniques for evaluating the success of game designs, and techniques for game prototyping. To gain practical experience in game design, students will work on a group project involving the iterative design, evaluation and implementation of a simple digital game.
The course is structured around two regular lecture hours each week, and one "studio" hour where students will collaboratively address focused game design problems.
Where and When
- Mondays, 12:30-1:30, Gooodwin 254
- Wednesdays, 11:30-12:30, Gooodwin 254
- Thursdays, 1:30-2:30, Goodwin 254
Office Hours
Office hours are held in Goodwin 629 in the hour immediately preceeding each class.
Texts
Required
Game Design Workshop: a Playcentric Approach to Creating Innovative Games, second Edition. By Tracy Fullerton. Morgan-Kaufmann, 2008.
This book is available from the Campus Bookstore, as well as Amazon and Chapters. A digital version is available for rental from Amazon.com.
Recommended
Programming C# 4.0. By Ian Griffiths, Matthew Adams and Jesse Liberty, O'Reilly, 2010.
You will develop a game using C# and XNA Studio. The above book is an excellent reference for C#. Additionally, there are extensive online resources available for C#.
Assessment
Please consult this statement on academic integrity.
| Activity | Due Date | Grade |
|---|---|---|
| Two-minute game review (in-class presentation) | Throughout term | 5% |
| Quiz (three, in-class) | Jan 30, Feb 29, March 28 | 15% |
| Project proposal | February 3 | 20% |
| Project progress report | March 7 | 20% |
| Poster (as part of end-of-term show) | During end of term show, tentatively week of April 2 | 10% |
| Final project report | April 6 | 15% |
| Game implementation | April 6 | 15% |
Attendance in class is mandatory. Up to 20% of the course grade may be deducted for significant absence.
Topics
Topics may include:
- Gaming platforms and styles
- Game design and development process
- Creative techniques for game design
- Theory of game design
- Game prototyping with XNA Studio
- Game evaluation
- Control schemes
- Game balancing
- Serious games
- Game economics
- Social factors: game addiction, games and violence
- Designing around technical constraints
- Designing for people with disabilities