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.
Game: Small Town Murders
Background: A mobile game with puzzle levels and overarching story that progresses as you solve more puzzles.
Architecture: Sequence of loops that make an arc. Each story is self contained and has about 400 levels. Each level is one iteration of the loop, with each contributing towards progressing the overall story arc.