Even though I played a lot of games growing up, I still learned a lot about games from this class. I learned the formal concepts for what I previously loosely understood about game architecture, such as mechanics, dynamics, and aesthetics. I thought that P1 was a great exercise in understanding how to design fun, engaging, and balanced games. I learned something new about game balancing and player experience at every playtest and iteration of our social mediation game. One of my favorite parts of class was playtesting, both seeing our game in action and seeing my peers’ creative games. I found it challenging to fully balance and organize our game’s mechanics, but I learned a lot from the process of testing and iteration. In the end, my team and I were proud of our game Ladybug. I even wanted to refine and publish our game but got busy and carried away with other responsibilities.
I found the critical play assignments interesting and a valuable exercise analyzing game designs. Normally I find homework a chore, but I recall enjoying the process of dissecting a game’s components to see what makes it fun to play. I learned a great deal about the ethics of bluffing games, narrative structure, and addiction in games of chance. The critical play about walking simulator opened my eyes to that new category of games that I have never heard about before. When playing The Vanishing of Ethan Carter, I remember discovering how subtle narrative is embedded within the game. Another memorable experience I had with critical plays pertained to probability and addiction. I enjoyed learning about why I was so immersed in playing blackjack in Vegas, specifically the psychological angle including the illusion of player control. These critical plays have strengthened my ability to analyze and understand essential components, narrative architecture, and ethical perspectives among a variety of game categories.
My team’s P2 project was an ambitious one that came about from my brainstorming in section. We decided to do a vertical slice prototype that featured a puzzle solving game in two worlds split by time. One of the main challenges we experienced was learning and working with Unity, because we had little to no prior experience with it. It was difficult learning and collaborating on Unity, but I feel that I gained valuable experience and more familiarity with working with it. At times, it was stressful to see if our team was able to produce what we had envisioned. Now, we are proud of our working prototype and recognize that we have come a long way.
Finally, I loved the collaborative structure of the class. I have made some good connections and friends working with my classmates. When working on both projects, I directly felt the benefits of bouncing ideas off of teammates and learning from diverse perspectives. I am graduating form my CS coterm this year, and I can say that this was my favorite class I’ve taken at Stanford. It was the perfect blend of learning and fun, and I am grateful for the opportunity to be among the students.
