Final Class Reflection – Mai Mostafa

Overall, I would say I really, really enjoyed this class. Before this, I considered games and game design as something really out of my depth. I didn’t grow up with games if I’m being honest. My parents believed that women shouldn’t play games that didn’t involve dollhouses and dresses, so I hadn’t really picked up a game until I was in high school. By then, it felt like everyone already knew everything there was to know about games, and I always felt so bad when I would try to play with friends and they would get annoyed about how little I knew. I didn’t know how to play, I didn’t know what buttons did what, and honestly because everyone else did and was frustrated with my lack of knowledge, I stopped trying to.

College gave me a new space to explore, and with that, I played more! I really love board games and social games, because in many ways the learning curve is less steep for me; also because people don’t get mad when you don’t know how to play a board game as much. Not sure why. Regardless, before this class, video games especially felt really elusive to me. I had played, 2, maybe 3 in my lifetime, and the thought of me going from a complete lack of knowledge to knowing how to make one really pushed me to work hard this quarter and make something I’m truly proud of. I wouldn’t by any means call myself an expert, but I think I learned to appreciate and enjoy games a lot more from doing this with you guys, and for that I couldn’t be more grateful.

I think the thing that stuck out most for in terms of class concepts was the idea of fun just being the joy of learning in a controlled environment. In many ways I believe this stuck with me because I study education, and so when you frame crafting a fun experience as crafting a good lesson, it takes away a bit of the mystique of the whole process. Suddenly making a game, a game that was good, a game that I was proud of, felt much more attainable. I think this really carried with me into the development process because it encouraged me to get out of my comfort zone. The idea of doing something I don’t “already know how to do” felt less stressful when I realized I actually do know. That made me push my own learning boundaries, involving me creating the majority of the art even though I have never really considered myself a visual artist. And you know what, I like what I made. I’m happy with the limits I pushed for myself throughout this process, and I’m happy that this idea of fun as learning pushed me to view the learning process itself as fun. I tried something new, and I haven’t done that in awhile.

If I were to keep working on the game (and I would love to), I would like to flesh out the design more, create more cohesive world building that is consistently oriented in the overall plot, and actually get the opportunity to compose the music for the game. I was supposed to, but I unfortunately didn’t have time, and I am a bit sad about that. But the music I picked was good if I do say so myself.

Bye bye !!