Final Class Reflection – Yinlin Zhao

Coming to college opened a new door to playing video games for me. A combination of control over my spare time, a lack of device surveillance, and the financial freedom to buy games for myself meant that I’ve been able to dedicate a lot more time towards playing video games in comfortable settings, and to exploring the different types of games there are. I stuck my toe into the world of first person shooters, got on Hypixel with friends, and scared the crap out of myself streaming ANATOMY to my friend. My interest in game development was the reason I took CS 247G this quarter, though I’d always stuck to relatively simple games that oftentimes seemed more like increasingly elaborate and interesting ways to format a story I wanted to tell. As I was, and still am, a writer before everything else, I approached game design like one. I didn’t really have as strong of a grasp on other forms of game mechanics and experiences that didn’t involve very strong narratives. It’s not that I didn’t know they existed, or that I didn’t play games that centered themselves around other types of fun, but I lacked as sharp an eye for it, or the ability to really distinguish these types of gaming experiences.

I feel like taking this class has really deepened my understanding of games from a design standpoint, and expanded my ability to analyze and discuss games through this perspective. One of the concepts that stuck with me the most was the MDA framework, in part because it kept coming up again, in critical play after critical play. It seems like such a simple concept in my head, but being formally taught its finer details and putting it into practice repeatedly through assignments has really sharpened my awareness of the dynamics of player fun and expanded the way I analyse games. The critical plays, while a source of stress and struggle for me over the quarter, have also become one of my favorite parts of the class. I enjoyed how they challenged me to play and write about games from different angles, utilizing different concepts we learned in class and focus minutely on mechanics I may not have necessarily registered otherwise. If this is the year I started playing more types of games, then this is the course where I’ve learned to turn a critical eye on them, whether I was revisiting an old favorite for an assignment or trying something for the first time. No matter how much I agonized over the critical play while I was writing it, there would always be a great satisfaction afterwards in having been able to complete one. I want to write more essays about video games now! I feel more capable of it!

I also found myself implementing my new understanding of how players experience games into the projects I made in this class, paying more attention to what social dynamics and puzzle challenges could affect the outcome of the game. Another challenging part of the projects was the time crunch, since we had pretty limited time to build two games, on top of the other obligations that members of the group would have. Becoming familiarized with the design process and learning to balance project goals and our vision for the game with everyone’s changing schedules and capabilities was an integral part of the way I grew in 247G. By working in a group, I learned a lot through making games I wasn’t expecting to. As a CS course, I sort of thought a lot of people were making purely digital games. While this was more true for many P2 groups, I was both surprised and very engaged in the part-physical, part-digital game my group made, which pushed the bounds of my expectations in many ways. But I’m of the opinion that playing with form is the most fun a guy can have, and I think that’s what happened here. I’m leaving this class with a lot more game ideas and a better understanding of the various logistical factors that come with making a game, whether I’ll be tackling future projects solo or within a group. Fun game concepts that have been floating in my head feel more tangible now, and I’m eager to put to use what I’ve learned this quarter.