Cogswell Polytechnical College
Instructor: Steve Librande
Email: gamedesign@pacbell.net

Basics of game design: definition of a game, terminology and basic design categories.

Optimal Game Design
Classics of Game Design Theory
Download Windows Go program

A brief history of gaming from early folk games to today’s game corporations. An overview of popular game genres will also be presented.

I-Ching
History of Gambling in the United States

Students will present their final project ideas to the class. After the presentations, we will discuss a basic framework for writing game rules.

Divide into small groups and create a game that requires players to make a choice between 2 different interesting options each turn. Each choice should advance the player towards victory, but in a slightly different way. Write up the rules and playtest your game with other groups

Overview of computer games, from early Teletype text games to the latest generation of consoles. We will also examine the different genres of computer games.

Design a game where players must work together to stop a rampaging robot from destroying a nearby town. Design the AI for the robot, then try to beat your own creation.

The first videogame
Java Spacewar!
Hammurabi
Williams Arcade Classics
The Art of Computer Game Design

Students will present their final projects to the class.

We will playtest the games and provide feedback and critiques to the designer.

Play balance theory and practical techniques used to balance games.

Create a game where a lone hero must battle a giant army of weak foes.

Official Rock Paper Scissors Strategy Guide
Erasmatazz: Writings of Chris Crawford

Thorough game design requires an understanding and analysis of the odds and probabilities in the game. In this class we will cover simple statistical formulas that can be used to analyze a game.

Make a gambling game from a collection of dice and blank index cards. Create odds tables based on the different events that might occur. Play the game with others in the class and record the actual numbers. How does the reality correspond to the odds?

Solve all the problems on the probability worksheet.

Thunderstorm and Pig

Why are we compelled to keep playing certain games when our bodies are telling us to eat or sleep? We will take a look at some basic psychological studies and apply the results to game design. We will also examine many different types of games and try to understand why some can be played repeatedly, while others are played once then shelved.

Design a card game with at least 3 resources. Each turn you can collect or spend resources, based on your cards. Different resources have different effects and can be combined to make new winning possibilities.

We will talk about general design principles for designing a level. Many of these techniques can be applied to both board games and computer games.

Make an obstacle course using random objects (buttons, toothpicks, etc.) and create a set of movement rules. Each player selects a token and tries to move it through the course.

Update the rules for your final project and make sure your game is ready for others to play. Bring the rules and the game in next week.

Presentations of the students’ final projects.

Play and critique the final project games. The game designer will not be allowed to settle rules disputes and questions. Instead, the players must rely completely on the rulebook.

While a game can be abstract, adding a theme can help draw players into your game world. This week’s lecture will examine how the “flavor” of a game can enhance the game player’s experience.

In a group of two, combine two board games together and make a new game. We will also take a look at recent commercial updates to classic games.

Write a second draft version of the rulebook for your final project. Include illustrations.

While some card and board games can be designed and created by one author, many games (especially computer games) require a large team. This class will discuss writing a design document to keep large projects organized.

Pick a favorite video game and create a simulation of it using only blank index cards, tokens and dice. You will lose the graphics, the sound effects and input controllers. But what elements of the game survive the conversion from electronics to paper?

Design Document Outlines (28K Word file)

The latest trend in computer games is the massively multiplayer online games. With so many participants these games present many new challenges for a game designer. How do you balance cooperation vs. competition? What happens when the players begin to play the game in ways the original designers never intended?

MMOGChart (MMOG growth tracking)
Multiplayer Gaming - Essays
On-line Personality Test (Explorer-Achiever-Killer-Socializer)

Presentations of the students’ final projects.

Grading is based on a percentage scale from 0 – 100%. Attendance is worth 60%, homework counts as 15% and the final project is worth 25%.
90 – 100%:      A
80 – 89%:        B
70 – 79%:        C
60 – 69%:        D
0 – 59%:          Failure

Since this is a workshop class, grading will primarily be based on attendance and class participation. 65% of a student’s grade will be determined by attendance; there are 14 classes, each worth approximately 4.6% of your grade.

There will be one homework assignment each week. Homework must be turned in the following week. Late homework assignments will be accepted, but will not add to a student’s final grade. Ten of the assignments are worth 1 point each.

Final projects count for 25% of each student’s grade. The final project is a complete game and is graded as follows:
5%:      Rulebook (ease of use, organization, clearly written)
5%:      Design (layout, colors, interface, etc.)
5%:      Analysis (statistics and probability charts)
10%:    “Fun” factor (replayability, theme, originality, etc.)