Game Ideas

Game Idea's should be submitted to Blackboard as links, images, or PDFs, to your Milanote or Miro board.

Grading is based on the inclusion, and quality, of:

  • Overview: High-level look at your game, the elevator pitch. A few sentences describing what the game is about.
  • Theme: The background of your game, the subject and scenarios that set the scene.
  • Game Mechanics: Detailed descriptions of how the player plays the game, what makes the gameplay interesting, how player decisions are translated into the game world. What happens in the game that the player must understand, and eventually master?
  • Mood Board: Create a Mood Board that helps set expectations for the visual style of your game. Consider 2D/3D art, pixel/low poly/stylized/photorealistic, tone, brightness, etc.
  • Win/Lose Conditions: If your game has important "state" changes, such as the player losing the game, or winning the game, describe how these conditions are met and the impact they have on the game.
  • Characters: Describe the important characters in your game, the subjects that drive your story or gameplay.
  • Rules: What rules govern your game? Is there a gameplay arena, like a field? A time limit? A score?
  • Target Audience: Who is this game designed for? What considerations need to be made for this group? How does your game design support the needs of this group?
  • Hardware Goals: If the idea is for a digital game, what platforms would it be appropriate for? What considerations need to be made for each platform you wish to deploy it to? If it is not a digital game: What material would the game require? Is it purchased in a box?
  • Feedback to Player: How does the game communicate back to the player? How does the player know when they're doing well? When they're failing? When they're going in the right direction, about to lose, close to victory, or totally lost and in need of a map?
  • Supporting Material: Provide supporting material for your decisions from our readings, or other sources. Your design decisions should be based on a combination of creativity, intuition, and research. Set yourself up for success by using the knowledge others have worked hard to gain as you design your games.

Examples:
Emily D - Tavern Tales
Omar R - Grymm
James R - Treasures & Traps

Game Analysis Paper

Game Analysis should be submitted to Blackboard as PDF or Word Document.

Grading is based on the inclusion, and quality, of:

  • Analysis of Mechanic: Critical analysis explores the implementation of a mechanic, evaluate the reasoning for how it was executed, ideates ways it could be improved, etc. Describing the mechanic helps give context, but you must do more than simply describe it.
  • Supporting Citations: The paper should include at least 2 academic citations to published research on games and as many citations as needed to playthroughs, player remarks, videos, forum comments, etc.
  • Papers should be at least 5 pages, double-spaced.

Examples:
Stephen R- Mario Kart 2023
Emily D - Overwatch 2023
Tyler G - Among Us 2022
Sky M - Life is Strange 2022

Game Job Analysis

Analyze 2+ roles within the game development industry to assess your interest and identify needed skills to attain that job. Documents submitted on appropriate Blackboard assignments.

Grading is based on the inclusion, and quality, of:

  • Find Your Role
    • - Minimum of 2 roles in the field included in analysis
    • - Description of role responsibilities, education requirements, experience requirements, pay (if available), plan of action to achieve dream job
    • Examples:
      - Aleena G - Programmer - 2023
  • Opening A Dialog
    • - Draft email submitted for feedback
    • - Final email submitted after feedback provided from class on draft
    • - Email sent (or other form of contact made)
    • Examples:
      - Emily D - 2023
  • Analysis
    • - After communication, submit report on discussion with contacts, what you learned about the roles you researched, updates to your plan for achieving the role, other game industry information that you learned, and anything else you learned in this assignment that might help others.
    • - If you get no response, explain what happened and submit the rest of the report as best you can.

Portfolios

A strong portfolio is the most important asset you can have when looking for a career in the game development industry. You need to sell yourself to the employer, and stand out from the rest of the applicants.

Grading is based on:

  • Handmade Portfolio - HTML/CSS/JavaScript

    • Student's ability to utilize the material covered in the lesson to construct an effective portfolio.
    • Portfolio is polished and complete. Students can list work that they haven't actually created in order to fill out the portfolio, as long as anything they do show (images, documents, videos, etc.) is properly cited. Include original creators name and link to original source of content.
    • Examples:
      - Aleena G 2023

  • Web Builder Portfolio

    • Portfolio Presentation: The portfolio should look professional and effectively market the student's skills and experience.
    • The portfolio content can be manufactured, if you don't have enough content to populate your portfolio you can borrow content as long as it's properly cited.
    • Provide Relevant Information: Portfolio should describe skills/education related to a targeted job application.
      If you're interested in Game Programming, for example, a portfolio needs to showcase your competency in programming above other skills/education you may have.

Final Project

The experience of designing and prototyping a game will help develop valuable skills for whatever path you take in the games industry.

Grading is based on the inclusion, and quality, of:

  • Paper Prototype
    • Effective use of physical media to simulate game element.
    • Design of prototype creates effective gameplay experience for testers to provide meaningful feedback about the game element.
  • Game Design Document
    • Document is thorough enough to gain a complete understanding of the game for critical analysis.
  • Playtest Feedback Documentation
    • At least 3 iterations of the game play tested at least 2 times. Ex: Playtest your game twice, taking detailed notes of the playtesters experience, body language, what they say, etc. Then follow up the session with questions for them. Then, use your notes to make changes to the design of the game to improve upon the experience. Repeat testing and updating.
    • Include a picture of your playtest session with your documentation.

Examples:
- Race To The Gavel Rules / Playtests - Aleena G 2023
- Sword Chef Design Doc- Anthony R - 2023
- Dreams Of Death Design Doc- Som S - 2023

Downloadable syllabus available here.

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