Final Class Reflection – Karina Chen

Before taking 247G, I didn’t consider myself much of a gamer. I rarely played video games growing up, and when I did, it was mostly social games like Just Dance or Mario Kart. I hadn’t thought deeply about how games were designed or the craft behind making them compelling. To me, games were either just “fun” or “not fun,” but I didn’t have the vocabulary or framework to think about why.

This class changed that completely. From the very beginning, 247G challenged me to approach games not just as a form of entertainment, but as a powerful medium for expression, storytelling, and design thinking. After playing a wide range of games outside of class, from puzzle games to narrative-driven adventures, I became curious about what makes a game sticky, emotionally resonant, or memorable. 

The concept that stuck with me most is the importance of narrative in a game, not just in the traditional sense of storylines and dialogue, but in how mechanics, visuals, and space can work together to create a narrative arc. I learned to think in terms of narrative loops and player motivation: what drives the player forward, what reinforces their actions, and how feedback, whether through sound, animation, or environment, builds meaning over time. In our squirrel platformer game, we explored this by embedding the character’s motivation into level design and interactive objects, creating a sense of progression and purpose with visuals and audio. 

One of the biggest challenges I experienced in this class was creative vulnerability. Some of the in-class exercises, like generating mechanics or story beats on the spot, felt intimidating at first. I wasn’t used to thinking so freely without a set structure, and it took time to let go of the need to “get it right” and instead explore ideas more openly. I also had to learn to stretch my thinking beyond what I initially imagined was possible, and that kind of creative risk-taking didn’t come naturally at first. But as a result, I grew the most in my confidence as a designer. I now feel more equipped to push past the obvious, to prototype ideas quickly, and to trust that meaning can emerge through iteration and play.

If I continue working on games, I’ll want to push further into narrative-driven experiences, especially those that use simple mechanics to tell deeper stories. I’m excited by the idea of designing games that are meaningful, where every choice a player makes feels intentional. 247G showed me how much is possible in this space, and I’m grateful for everything I’ve learned through my journey.