The goal of this curricular unit is to prepare students for a career that involves the development of computer games and other interactive experiences. Students in this curricular unit will read and write about game design and develop their own games. This is not to be confused with a computer games development course.
The course focuses on the rules and methods for the design of the game, that remain relatively constant regardless of the technology used to develop a game. While technology plays an important role in our studies, technical details will not be our focus. The student will study and design all types of games: card games, dice games, sports games, history, and yes, even video games. How to design games, project them as well, and how to track their projects to completion it's whar the student will be studying.
The syllabus for this curricular unit was selected to make sure the objectives could be achieved and properly developed throughout the semester. The course starts with introductory aspects and the history of traditional games and computer games, and then aspects such as technology, narrative, aesthetics, and game mechanics are dealt with in more detail. These chapters set the foundations of the skills and motivation for the rest of the course. The remaining chapters address techniques for effective game development. The development process, the psychological aspects of the player, and ethics are transversal concepts that are also explored during the course.
Please click to see the Syllabus.
