I look back at the end of this class feeling extremely proud of what I’ve been able to accomplish individually and as a part of several teams. At the same time, I appreciate how much this class has broadened my horizons on Game Design in several, unique ways. While I was already quite passionate about the field, the lens this class provided not only deconstructed some of the notions I realized I had regarding it, but also helped me deepen my knowledge of topics I was previously interested in. I know that saying this seems almost exaggerated, but I think this class will be extremely important for my life in the years to come: I was talking to Edwin this week and I think he made me notice that most of the things I was looking for when coming to Stanford five years ago were kinda realized within this class. I connected and made friends through a shared passion for games, I was challenged to think critically and not take anything at face value, and I was given the liberty to express myself and explore my own interests. Okay… enough praise about the class, let’s get down to some reflections!
Before this class, my academic relationship with games already existed. This is because two years ago, I took CS247G. And, 247 gave me a solid foundation regarding core concepts of Game Design while making me fall in love with the field. Even though two years have passed, I still found myself noticing great interactive tutorials, the progression of loops and arches, and the MDA framework everywhere I looked. I also importantly had started to change my perspective on what games can be. Unfortunately, before 247, I basically associated the whole world of games to a collection of a few competitive video games. More specifically, to League of Legends (I know… I can’t believe I just wrote those words). Yet, after 247 and its Critical Playing assignments, I could see my horizons expanding: I vividly remember, for example, playing Florence or What Remains of Edith Finch, and being extremely moved by these experiences.
Even though I might’ve unknowingly already played serious games, I hadn’t thought about their design or what makes them serious at all. And, in this class, it was precisely that feeling that I saw change. I think this change occurred through three different forms of learning: Reading, Playing, and Reflecting. Each of these aspects of the class made me think in different ways, so, even thou
gh they can be quite interconnected, I’ll try writing about them separately. In terms of the readings, I’d like to highlight two which had the greatest impact on me: The MDAO Framework and The Rhetoric of Video Games. I mention the MDAO reading because I simply loved how assertive and informative it was when augmenting for games as effective clinical interventions. Besides making me learn quite a bit about interventions, I also greatly valued the structure it provided for us to think (and perhaps most importantly, to design) our games. During P1, I remember bringing out this chart in a meeting, and, how once our group truly put ourselves in line with the MDAO framework, our mechanics, dynamics, and aesthetics started to work way more smoothly towards the learning outcomes of our game. It was such a satisfying learning experience, and definitely a highlight of the course! On the other hand, The Rhetoric of Video Games made me start to think critically about my own experiences with playing Call of Duty since I was a child. It made me reflect on the values that I might unconsciously absorb from these games. It made me think about the political message of games and the power which developers have in an extremely refreshing lens… Also, it showed me how Animal Crossing actually has a pretty deep message behind it!
(As a side note, something that I think could be interesting for future classes would be to have a structured time in class to discuss the readings!)
As I mentioned before, another way I think I learned throughout 377G was through actually playing. On the last day of class I talked to Christina for a while and one thing she mentioned stuck in my head until now: The three hour length of our class enabled for a loose and intimate structure of teaching that we don’t really see much here at Stanford. And, because of this structure and the large amount of time we had to play games within class time, we allowed ourselves to truly immerse ourselves in a large variety of games. While this was extremely fun, I also think it was an amazing learning experience. By playing a variety of games, we inherently are able to deconstruct them and eventually apply these learnings to our own projects. So many times I saw myself being inspired by certain mechanics and wanting to explore the design process behind them. I’m honestly really happy with the amount of games that we play in this class and how it is treated as both playing and learning simultaneously.
Yet, I think our learning was truly consolidated with the significant amount of time we spent discussing the games we had just played. Hearing my classmates’ perspective really made me think about certain design decisions made in the games we were playing. I remember, for example, the day we played ‘problematic’ board games and someone highlighted a point of view I hadn’t considered at all about a game I was just playing. It was one of those moments where I saw how much hearing everyone talk was beneficial for the class environment. However, I also love how (at the appropriate time) the class gave us room to not take ourselves too seriously. This lighthearted nature (that is often part of play) was also an aspect of the class that I considered, in some ways, learning!
And, I hope the mentality present in our class’ environment will remain present in my life when I continue to make games in the future. After Winter Quarter, I’ll be graduating. I can’t say with certainty that I’ll follow this path, but I know that my professional dream in life is to make games. I know that I still have a lot to learn, and I hope to continue this journey in an Individual Study next quarter before graduating. I also hope I can take what I learned in both theory and practice about games with me. While I don’t know what games I’ll make, I think my experiences in 377 will definitely shape them. P1 stood out to me regarding the sheer amount of commitment our group had to getting our learning objective across (no matter how many iterations and playtests it took). P2 reintroduced me to writing fiction with a purpose, something I had never done during my time at Stanford! And finally, P3 and P4 once again showed me just how beautiful collaboration is and how different people and perspectives can lead to amazing results. All I can say as I look into my future is that I hope to take each of these (and all other) learnings from 377G with me!
