Videogame Design and Critique

Catalog description

Surveys history, technology, narrative, ethics, and design of interactive computer games. Games as systems of rules, games of emergence and progression, state machines. Game flow, games as systems of pleasure, goals, rewards, reinforcement schedules, fictional and narrative elements of game worlds. Students work in teams to develop novel game-design storyboards and stand-alone games. Exploration of the interplay between narrative, graphics, rule systems, and artificial intelligence in the creation of interactive games. Programming experience not required. Graduate students required to write a critical seminar paper in addition to game design experience.