Before this class, I loved games – mostly analog games and escape rooms – because I often play them with friends and family. However, I had never considered evaluating why something is fun, designing for certain kinds of fun, or games as art that communicate stories or evoke emotions.
Favorite Course Concepts: designing for aesthetics, role of art, and puzzles
I loved learning about the eight aesthetics of games and understanding how games can be designed around these aesthetics. I love the fact that designers can specifically target certain types of fun and certain player types when creating games. I now have the ability to identify the kind of fun that a game creates, and the skills to recreate that type of fun using game mechanics. Although, I at first struggled identifying mechanics, dynamics, and aesthetics in the initial critical plays.
This class not only convinced me that games are art, but that there is a reason for everyone to have basic drawing and storytelling skills. Specifically, sketchnoting and mindmapping notes helped me retain knowledge better. Amy’s lecture about music showed me the power of art in evoking emotion in games, and the many forms that art can take. Finally, the lectures about narrative storytelling and kinds of stories shaped my final prototype for P2–we used worldbuilding to tell an embedded story in which the player slowly uncovers more clues to solve the mystery.
I have always loved puzzles because my grandpa loves puzzles, so learning about the several different types of puzzles and how to design and balance them was amazing. In P2, I used this new knowledge to implement a variety of puzzles – from object puzzles with a key to code puzzles to break into rooms to knowledge puzzles to disable Kim Kardashian’s made-up security system.
More Reflections: working in teams, design process, and exploring games
I enjoyed working in project teams because both of my teams were diverse in terms of skills. I loved working with people who were great at art, creating storylines, and generating dialogue. I learned that developing a game takes several different skills – including balancing game difficulty, crafting a narrative, creating art, coding, using Figma, documenting changes, asking prototype questions. It was great to be a part of teams in which there was a job for everyone, and I think both my P1 and P2 teams were extremely effective and great to work with! I also became more confident taking on tasks that I am unfamiliar with – including learning G Develop, creating character dialogue, and managing a team.
From a design standpoint, I learned the importance of prototyping and testing parts of a whole and asking good questions before a test. I now feel comfortable (and enjoy) creating sketchnotes, mindmaps, and models of complex systems. While I appreciate the flexibility in deadlines, it might have been helpful to be more strict about when prototypes were due so that teams could stay on track.
Finally, this class genuinely made me want to play and explore more games. I loved some of the games I played for my critical plays – including Nox and Gone Home – and I enjoyed playtesting my classmates’ games. Playing games like A Fake Artist Goes to New York and Mafia in class was also amazing!
Next steps:
I may share my experience managing a project and designing analog and digital games with potential future employers. I am very happy with the games I created!
