Game Design

Study Materials

Readings are taken from the course text and other sources, listed by session in the table below. Lab sessions also include a list of games that may be played in class. All assignments must be turned in at the beginning of class.

[CGD] = Brathwaite, Brenda, and Ian Schreiber. Challenges for Game Designers: Non-Digital Exercises for Video Game Designers. Boston, MA: Charles River Media/Course Technology, 2009. ISBN: 9781584505808.

SES #	TOPICS	READINGS / Games
1	Introductions and basic terminology
2	Iterative Design	[CGD] Chapter 1 Zimmerman, Eric. “Play as Research: The Iterative Design Process.” July 8, 2003. Games Euchre Uno, Mattel, 1971. Pit, Winning Moves, 1904. Fluxx, Looney Labs, 1997. Falling, Titanic Games, 1998. Chez Geek, Steve Jackson Games, 1999.
3	Where do ideas for games come from? Core dynamics, MDA, verbs	[CGD] Chapter 2 Hunicke, Robin, Marc LeBlanc, and Robert Zubek. “MDA: A Formal Approach to Game Design and Game Research.” In Proceedings of the Challenges in Game AI Workshop at the 19th National Conference on Artificial Intelligence. San Jose, CA: AAAI Press, 2004. (PDF) Church, Doug. “Formal Abstract Design Tools.” Gamasutra, July 16 1999.
4	Prototyping Guest Lecture, Sara Verrilli, Singapore-MIT GAMBIT Game Lab	Fullerton, Tracy. “Playtesting.” Chapter 8 in Game Design Workshop. Boston, MA: Morgan Kaufmann, 2008. ISBN: 9780240809748.
5	Assignment 1 (Card Game) Brainstorming and Team Formation Guest Lecture, Abe Stein, Singapore-MIT GAMBIT Game Lab	Osborn, Alex F. “Creative Collaboration by Groups.” Chapter 12 in Applied Imagination. New York, NY: Scribner, 1953. ISBN: 9780930222734. Games _Incan Gol_d, Gryphon Games, 2006. Saboteur, Z-Man Games, 2004. Crunch, Exile Game Studio, 2009. Chrononauts, Looney Labs, 2000.
6	The Social Function of Games	Church, Doug. “Formal Abstract Design Tools.” Gamasutra, July 16, 1999. Caillois, Roger. “The Social Function of Games.” Chapter 3 in Man, Play, and Games. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 2001. ISBN: 9780240809748.
7	Chance, Probability, Alea	[CGD] Chapter 5 Caillois, Roger. “Competition and Chance.” Chapter 8 in Man, Play and Games. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 2001. ISBN: 9780252070334.
8	Strategy, Skill, and Chance, Part 1	[CGD] Chapter 6 Poundstone, William. “Game Theory.” The Game Design Reader: A Rules of Play Anthology. Edited by Katie Salen and Eric Zimmerman. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2005. ISBN:9780262195362. Games Munchkin, Steve Jackson Games, 2001. Bohnanza, Rio Grande Games, 1997. Bang!, Da Vinci, 2002. Lunch Money, Atlas, 1996.
9	Strategy, Skill, and Chance, Part 2	[CGD] Chapters 7 and 8
10	Assignment 1 Internal Playtest
11	Adding and Subtracting Mechanics	[CGD] Chapter 14 Juul, Jesper. “The Open and The Closed: Games of Emergence and Games of Progression.” In Computer Games and Digital Cultures Conference Proceedings. Edited by Frans Mäyrä. Tampere, Finland: Tampere University Press, 2002. Games San Juan, Rio Grande Games, 2004. Race for the Galaxy, Rio Grande Games, 2007. Dominion, Rio Grande Games, 2008. Naval Battles: World War II on the High Seas, Mayfair Games, 2004.
12	Knowing Your Players	[CGD] Chapter 11 Bartle, Richard. “Hearts, Clubs, Diamonds, Spades: Players Who Suit MUDs.” April 1996.
13	Assignment 1 Playtest with GAMBIT Staff
14	Learning an Unfamiliar Genre	[CGD] Chapter 12 Games Carcassonne, Rio Grande Games, 2000. Blokus, Mattel, 2000. Flibbix, Merillian Games, 2008. Stratego, Milton Bradley, 1947. Ticket to Ride, Days of Wonder, 2004. Excape, Rio Grande Games, 1998.
15	Holiday – No Class	Leacock, Matt. “Cooperation and Engagement: What Can Board Games Teach Us?” April 30, 2008. YouTube. Accessed on March 7, 2011. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdTVcFo2EQw
16	Assignment 1 Showcase
17	Game Bits	[CGD] Chapter 4 Norman, Donald. “The Psychopathology of Everyday Things.” and “Knowing What To Do.” Chapters 1 and 4 in The Design of Everyday Things. New York, NY: Basic Books, 2002. ISBN: 9780465067107. Games Thurn and Taxis, Rio Grande Games, 2006. The Settlers of Catan, Mayfair Games, 1995. Ad Astra, Fantasy Flight Games, 2009. Roll Through The Ages, Gryphon Games, 2009. Scrabble, Hasbro, 1948. Crokinole
18	Puzzles	[CGD] Chapter 3 Kim, Scott. “What is a Puzzle?”
19	Abstraction and Simulation Assignment 2 (Board Game) Team Formation	Starr, Paul. “Seductions of Sim; Policy as a Simulation Game.” The American Prospect, March 21, 1994.
20	What is Intellectual Property?	[CGD] Chapter 9 Games Endeavor, Z-Man Games, 2009. Pandemic, Z-Man Games, 2008. Scotland Yard, Ravensburger, 1983. Mob City, Van der Veer Games, 2005. Container, Valley Games, Inc., 2007.
21	Games as Teaching Tools Guest Panel, Konstantin Mitgutsch, Dan Roy, Scot Osterweil, Education Arcade/Learning Games Network	[CGD] Chapters 18 and 19
22	Assignment 2 Internal Playtest
23	Creating Sequels Guest Lecture, Sara Verrilli, Singapore-MIT GAMBIT Game Lab	[CGD] Chapter 10 Games Battlestar Galactica, Fantasy Flight Games, 2008. Brass, FRED Distribution, 2007. Puerto Rico, Rio Grande Games, 2002. Thebes, Queen/Rio Grande Games, 2007. Chinatown, Alea, 1999.
24	Assignment 2 Playtest with GAMBIT Staff
25	“Fiction and Stories in Games.” Guest Lecture, Clara Fernandez-Vara, Singapore-MIT GAMBIT Game Lab	Johnson, Soren. “Theme Is Not Meaning.” Part I, Part II. Designer Notes, June 2010. Juul, Jesper. “Fiction.” Chapter 4 in Half-Real. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2005. ISBN: 9780262101103.
26	Heavyweights	Games Agricola, Z-Man Games, 2007. Le Havre, Lookout Games, 2008. Power Grid, Rio Grande Games, 2004. Cosmic Encounter, Fantasy Flight Games, 2008. Caylus, Rio Grande Games, 2005.
27	Games As Art Guest Lecture, Abe Stein, Singapore-MIT GAMBIT Game Lab	[CGD] Chapter 17 Frasca, Gonzalo. “Videogames Of The Oppressed.” Electronic Book Review, June 24, 2004.
28	Guest Lecture, Scott Nicholson, Library Game Lab, Syracuse University	Have games ready for playtesting!
29	Assignment 2 Showcase
30	Clients for Assignment 3 (Game for a Client) Visit Guest Lecture, Cezar Cimpeanu and James Cartreine	Rueve, Marie, and Randon S. Welton. “Violence and Mental Illness.” Psychiatry 5 (May 2008): 34-48. Schwartz, Thomas L., and Tricia L. Park. “Assaults by Patients on Psychiatric Residents: A Survey and Training Recommendations.” Psychiatric Services 50 (March 1999): 381-383. Ogloff, James R. P., and Michael Daffern. “The Dynamic Appraisal of Situational Aggression: An Instrument to Assess Risk for Imminent Aggression in Psychiatric Inpatients.” Behavioral Sciences and the Law 24 (2006): 799-813. Antonius, Daniel, et al. “Psychiatric Assessment of Aggressive Patients: A Violent Attack on a Resident.” American Journal of Psychiatry 167 (March 2010): 253-259. DSM-IV Criteria for Substance Use Disorders. “Schizophrenia.” DSM-IV-TR #295.1-295.3, 295.90.
31	Assignment 3 Brainstorming and Team Formation
32	Live Action Games
33	Ethics in Games Guest Lecture, Mia Consalvo, Comparative Media Studies	Sicart, Miguel. “The Ethics of Game Design.” Chapter 7 in The Ethics of Computer Games. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2009. ISBN: 9780262012652.
34	Assignment 3 Group Work
35	Assignment 3 Internal Playtest
36	Assignment 3 Group Work
37	Assignment 3 Playtest with GAMBIT Staff
38	Assignment 3 Group Work
39	Assignment 3 Showcase