MS Focus on Game Design and Development

Introduces students to the field of virtual reality (VR). Covers the historical development of virtual reality technologies and virtual reality as a research field, the mathematics of 3D coordinate systems, fundamental principles, algorithms, and design patterns in developing interactive virtual environments, the perceptual science behind mixed reality technologies, and libraries and tools for creating VR experiences.

This course introduces students to the theory, history, and culture of Game Design through readings, discussion, game analysis and the creation of tabeletop games.

Students will read articles focusing on game history and theory and analyze existing games to build a common and more extensive vocabulary to both discuss and understand the underlying principles of game design. In addition, principles from traditional board games, sports games, tabletop games, party games, and digital games will be explored and the lessons learned will be applied to designing one game expansion and one original tabletop game over the course of the semester.

This course introduces students to the skills needed to develop original digital games, including game mechanics, design, programming, user-testing, analysis, and team organization.

Builds on concepts and processes learned in ATLS 4040/5040. Reinforces game design principles through analysis and discussion of digital games, and introduces students to key practices in the development of digital game experiences, including game flow, mechanics, 2D and 3D graphics, and artificial intelligence.

Introduces students to the massive impact that games and play have had on our modern culture and how we can understand both games and our culture better by observing them through specific lenses.

We often assess games for their ability to entertain, but the impact of games extends far beyond their reach as simple objects of diversion. This class will explore the various ways that games affect culture, and how artists, writers, sociologists, musicians, activists and more have harnessed the power of games to achieve their goals.

A hands-on game design studio where students will develop games within extreme technical constraints to better understand how those boundaries help us create better games.

In this self-directed studio, you’ll learn to efficiently use tiny screens and limited processors for maximum fun, create beautiful art with small color palettes, and tell compelling narratives with nothing but unformatted text. Students will learn to develop games with Bitsy, Twine, Pico-8 and Arduboy, and complete analog game design challenges that will force them to achieve specific goals within strict limitations. Intrepid students can dive even deeper to develop games for classic 8-bit consoles and fabricate their own cartridges to play them on original hardware.

The course covers the aesthetic and experiential design of digital interfaces. While rooted in desktop and mobile computing interfaces, we will also exploring computationally enhanced environments, tangible digital interfaces, and other experimental digital interface concepts. Primary visual design concepts (space, typography, layout, form, color) will all be emphasized in this context via projects and critiques. These will be paired with lectures, readings, and hands-on case studies that provide critical perspectives on existing projects in the world of interface design.