This is the home base through the course with links to slides, resources and exercises for each week. Current information and updates are reflected here and are also mentioned in class.
Sicart, M. (2014). Play is. In Play matters (pp. 1–18). Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press.
DeKoven, B. (2013). Searching for the Well-Played Game & Guidelines. In The well-played game: a player’s philosophy (pp. 1–9). Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press.
Hunicke, R., LeBlanc, M., & Zubek, R. (2004). MDA: A formal approach to game design and game research. In Proceedings of the AAAI Workshop on Challenges in Game AI (Vol. 4, p. 5). Retrieved from http://www.aaai.org/Library/Workshops/2004/ws04-04-001.php
Macklin, C., & Sharp, J. (2016a). Basic Game Design Tools. In Games, design and play: a detailed approach to iterative game design (First edition, pp. 15–45). Boston, MA ; San Francisco, CA: Addison-Wesley.
Start of Physical Game Project (TBA).
Note: In the Brathwaite & Schreiber readings, you can skip / skim the exercise sections and focus more on the content parts. The exercises and challenges there are great, but they will not be the focus of class discussions.
Brathwaite, B. & Schreiber, I. (2009). Elements of chance. In Challenges for Game Designers (p. 69-82). 317 pages. Boston, MA: Course Technology/Cengage Learning.
Brathwaite, B. & Schreiber, I. (2009). Elements of “strategic” skill. In Challenges for Game Designers (p. 83-98). 317 pages. Boston, MA: Course Technology/Cengage Learning.
Brathwaite, B. & Schreiber, I. (2009). Elements of “Twitch” skill. In Challenges for Game Designers (p. 99-108). 317 pages. Boston, MA: Course Technology/Cengage Learning.
Norman, D. A. (1990). The Psychology of Everyday Actions. In The design of everyday things (1st Doubleday/Currency ed, pp. 34-53). New York: Doubleday.
Guardiola, E. (2016). The Gameplay Loop: A Player Activity Model for Game Design and Analysis. In Proceedings of the 13th International Conference on Advances in Computer Entertainment Technology (pp. 23:1–23:7). New York, NY, USA: ACM. https://doi.org/10.1145/3001773.3001791
Caillois, R. (2001a). The definition of play. In Man, play, and games (pp. 3–10). Urbana and Chicago: University of illinois Press.
Caillois, R. (2001b). The classification of games. In Man, play, and games (pp. 11–36). Urbana and Chicago: University of illinois Press.
Start of Card / Board Game Project (TBA).
Tekinbaş, K. S., & Zimmerman, E. (2004). Games as Emergent Systems. In Rules of play: game design fundamentals (pp. 151–171). Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press.
Physical Game Project (TBA) is due.
Fullerton, T. (2014a). Communicating your designs. In Game Design Workshop: a Playcentric Approach to Creating Innovative Games, Third Edition. (pp. 437–453). Natick: CRC Press.
Macklin, C., & Sharp, J. (2016b). Prototyping Your Game. In Games, design and play: a detailed approach to iterative game design (First edition, pp. 181–200). Boston, MA ; San Francisco, CA: Addison-Wesley.
Anthropy, A., & Clark, N. (2014). Storytelling. In A Game Design Vocabulary: Exploring the Foundational Principles Behind Good Game Design (1 edition, pp. 155–189). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Addison-Wesley Professional.
Start of Digital Game Project.
Fullerton, T. (2014b). Playtesting. In Game Design Workshop: a Playcentric Approach to Creating Innovative Games, Third Edition. (pp. 271–304). Natick: CRC Press.
Card / Board Game Project is due this week.
Totten, C. W. (2014). Basic Gamespaces. In An architectural approach to level design (pp. 103–160). Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.
Swink, S. (2009b). Super Mario Brothers. In Game feel: a game designer’s guide to virtual sensation (pp. 201–228). Amsterdam ; Boston: Morgan Kaufmann Publishers/Elsevier.
Sirlin, D. (2009). Balancing Multiplayer Competitive Games. Retrieved from http://www.sirlin.net/s/GDC-2009-sirlin-handout6.pdf
Digital Game Project is due.