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.
As shown in the sketchnote, a game that I really enjoy is Minecraft, and it requires several loops and arcs. The main loop of Minecraft is to mine, craft, and build in order to progress with the game. The first loop most people start with is to mine wood, craft a crafting table, and build themselves some sort of shelter to survive the first night. The main plot arc of Minecraft is to beat the Ender Dragon, which requires many cycles of mining, crafting, and building. One could also argue that the player goes through several player arcs as a product of going through many of the aforementioned game loops, upgrading tools and gear and building new contraptions or exploring new dimensions to progress along in the game.