Over the last few years we have seen the rise of "serious games" to promote understanding of complex social and ecological challenges, and to create passion for solving them. This project-based course provides an introduction to game design principals while applying them to games that teach. Run as a hands-on studio class, students will design and prototype games for social change and civic engagement. We will learn the fundamentals of games design via lecture and extensive reading in order to make effective games to explore issues facing society today. The course culminates in an end-of- quarter open house to showcase our games. Prerequisite: CS147 or equivalent. 247G recommended, but not required.
One game I really enjoy is Hollow Knight. In Hollow Knight there are different abilities that you unlock as you progress through the game. At first you can only walk around and jump but as you enter new areas and use your current abilities, you are able to unlock new abilities. One example of an ability is the Mantis Claw, which you can collect in the Mantis Village. This ability allows you to cling to walls, allowing you to unlock new areas. Each skill is dependent on knowing previous skills. For the Mantis Claw you must know how to jump and change direction and it is slightly hard to master at the beginning. However, the game is great about giving you training grounds to test out new abilities.