Introduction to Game Design

Overview

Syllabus

Courses

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  5 weeks, 4-8 hours a week, 4-8 hours a week

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  This course will be retired on September 30, 2023.

  Are you ready to take the first step from gamer to game designer? Then this course is for you!

  This course is an introduction to the basic concepts of game development and design theory, and explores how these concepts affect the ways we design and interact with games.

  What are games? What are their structures and rule systems? What are their mechanics and dynamics? How does behavioral psychology impact game design? This course answers all these questions and many more!

  This course explores the tenets of game design, core game structure, the components of a game, and the different areas of specialization within game design. We look at theoretical design frameworks as conceptual models for approaching design and the fundamental concepts in game psychology, motivation and game experience. The course describes the models that explain the various player types and play styles (what types of people play games, and what motivates and interests them).

  Finally, you will learn about core game mechanics and challenge dynamics, and how your designs can be improved by thinking about them from a psychological, player-centric perspective.

  Throughout this course, we use classic video game examples such as Pac-man, Space Invaders and Solitaire to see what they can teach us about games and game design.

  Topics covered include:

  • Introduction to game design
  • Game design frameworks
  • Behavioral game psychology and play styles
  • The psychology of game mechanics and dynamics
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  5 weeks, 4-8 hours a week, 4-8 hours a week

  View details

  This course will be retired on September 30, 2023.

  Game designers create the ideas and worlds of games—they design the environment, characters, game mechanics, goals and user experience. Successful game designers do this by applying the fundamentals of game system design and logic.

  This course explains what game system design is, how it works, and how it relates to game mechanics, designing rules, and logical thinking and reasoning. Game balance is a crucial component of game design and development, so in this course we will focus on what game balance is and why it is important in terms of its relation to simplicity and complexity, dominant strategies, and skill and chance.

  This course also dives into game balancing tools you can use to make your game a success, including risk and reward, physical and mental challenges, gameplay duration, and freedom versus control.

  Topics covered include:

  • Game system design and logic
  • Game balance
  • Game environments
  • Game balancing tools
• 0 reviews

  5 weeks, 4-8 hours a week, 4-8 hours a week

  View details

  This course will be retired on September 30, 2023.

  What is good game design? How do you come up with good game ideas? How do you start documenting your ideas? How do you create an experience? How do you write a rule book? These are some of the questions that will come up during the game design process, and this course will enable you to answer them.

  When you’re designing a game, you’re designing an intricate system, so you will want a series of steps to help you through the game creation process. This course walks you through those steps—from determining a game’s success criteria and conceptualizing new aspects and core concepts to designing and prototyping your game, through to producing and finalizing your game. It explores what’s involved in designing game experiences for the gaming industry and which elements affect player experiences and behavior. It also identifies some key considerations in ideation and video game development: how to establish your game’s situation, design pillars and loops, and document your game ideas.

  Topics covered include:

  • The game design process
  • Designing game experiences
  • Envisioning game ideas

Taught by

John Appleby and Tahirah Mirza

Tags

• united states