Final Reflection — Barry

Prior to taking this course, I had a limited understanding of the formal elements of game design; even though I myself love playing video games and am an avid gamer, I hadn’t really thought about the logistics and the actual process of creating games—though I did, and still do, aspire to develop a self-created indie game in the future. Furthermore, I always knew that games took a lot of effort to develop, but this class was my first experience with real game development and the visceral triumph and frustration that comes with it.

I learned the most when I was writing my critical plays, which forced me to evaluate games through the MDA framework and question prompts of a given week. Once we got into the latter half of the course, the list of available games included ones that I have played before (Portal, Hades, Overwatch) so it was both insightful and useful for me to evaluate the games I have played before under the lenses of puzzles, worldbuilding, and addiction respectively. Broadly speaking, the modules that I found the most useful to me as I was developing my games with my team include worldbuilding and competitive analysis.

Another thing that stood out to me was how crucial one’s team is when you want to iterate rapidly. I was incredibly fortunate to be paired with teammates who held similar levels of commitment for the class—for P1, we created Duck, Duck, Goose: Reducks and for P2, we created Let’s Get the Band Together!, both of which involved many hours of work but resulted in a level of quality that surprised me given the tight timeframe, especially in the case of the former. We delegated work according to our respective strengths and covered each other’s weaknesses quite effectively, which made the development process much easier, and is a challenge that I anticipate running into as a solo dev.

If I continue to work on games in the future, I definitely plan on utilizing the MDA framework as I’m designing the game, with a focus on thinking about core gameplay loops and narrative arcs. Even if I create a game as a solo developer, I definitely plan on soliciting the insights of other game developers. I would also like to refine my skills in visual asset creation, which was the aspect of game development that I think contributed the most to the overall polish of both of my team’s projects.

Overall, I had a blast taking this course, and it only further solidified my love for games. I primarily play video games but being tasked with creating an analog social game during the first half of the class helped me think about what elements of board games create fun—which was less obvious than the visuals, music, and overall dopamine addictions that video games generate.