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The Mechanics of Magic

The Mechanics of Magic

Game Design Writings by Students at Stanford taking 247G and 377G

  • Library
    • CS247G Community Game Design Resources
    • Game Design Resources
    • Graphic Design for Game Designers
    • Graphic Design Resources
    • Chapter 11 from Game Balance
  • Read Write Play
    • Hollow Knight: RWP 4 2023
    • Mystic Messenger: RWP 6 2023
    • Undertale: RWP 3 2023
    • What Remains of Edith Finch: RWP 5 2023
    • Catan: RWP1 2023
    • 80 Days: RWP 2 2023
  • 247G Syllabus
    • The Formal Elements of Game Design
    • Design for Play | Week One | Lecture A
    • Design for Play | Week One | Lecture B
    • Design for Play | Week Two | Lecture A
    • Design for Play | Week Two | Lecture B
    • Design for Play | Week Three | Lecture A
    • Design for Play | Week Three | Lecture B
    • Design For Play | Week Four | Section A
    • Design For Play | Week Four | Section B
    • Design for Play | Week Five | Class A
    • Design for Play | Week 5 | Class B
    • Design for Play | Week 6 | Class A (no class)
    • Design for Play | Week 6 | Class B
    • Design for Play | Week 7 | Class A
    • Design for Play | Week 7 | Class B
    • Design for Play | Week 8 | Class A
    • Design for Play | Week 8 | Lecture B
  • Serious Play Study Group Overview
    • Study Group Week by Week Breakdown
      • Formal Elements of Games
      • Final Reflection Essay
    • [Optional Material] What is fun?
    • Project 1: Those Who Play, Teach
      • READING Visual Design of Board Games
      • Pitch Your Teaching Game
      • Sketchnote: Playtesting Boardgames
      • Sketchnote: Erin Hoffman // Wind, Not Sand: Mapping Dynamic Emotion Across a Product Landscape
      • SketchNote: MDAO
      • Critical Play: Write up your game of FLUXX
      • [Optional Material] Playtesting
      • OPTIONAL Board Game Usability
    • P2: The Future We Deserve
      • Critical Play: A Mechanic and a Story to Tell
      • Interactive Fiction: Tiny Playable Prototype
      • Introducing Interactive Fiction
      • Map and Premise
      • Critical Play: Story AND Storytelling games
      • Essay or Sketchnote: Rise of the Video Game Zinesters
      • Sketchnote: Art of game design- Story
      • [Optional Material] Emergence and Progression
      • Essay or Sketchnote: Rise of the Video Game Zinesters
      • Project 2 Reflection Essay
      • Share what you Learned: Writing Excuses Podcast
      • Values at Play & P2 Peer Grading
    • P3: The Game of Unexpected Consequences
      • P3 Concept Doc
      • Playable prototype
      • Working With System Dynamics (mindmap the reading, apply it to your game)
      • Mapping Systems
      • Sketchnote/Response for Rules & Tutorials
      • Project 3 Check-in
      • Project 3 Reflection Essay
    • P4: Refine a game
      • Sketchnote/Response for Playtesting with Strangers
      • Read: Mechanic is the Magic
  • On Sketchnotes
  • Printing at Stanford

Month: June 2025

Joaquin Final Class Reflection

June 8, 2025

Before this class, I thought about game design primarily through the lens of balance and customization. In every game I play, when I think…

Final Class Reflection

June 8, 2025

Before taking CS 247G, I had never considered the structures and the planning that goes into creating the games we love. In retrospect, it…

P2: Turnout

June 8, 2025

Authors: Lour Drick Valsote, Elliott Rodgers, Amaru Ordóñez-Jacobson Download on itch.io! Artist’s Statement This current version of Turnout is a slice of what could…

Final Reflection — Barry

June 7, 2025

Prior to taking this course, I had a limited understanding of the formal elements of game design; even though I myself love playing video…

Final Class Reflection – Lisa Ing

June 7, 2025

Before this class, I thought about video games as something I never had the time to play! As a busy college student and someone…

P2: Fishermen’s Wives – Team 04

June 7, 2025

Artist’s Statement In a small, unnamed seaside village, the wives of fishermen gather in pairs and small groups after their husbands have fallen asleep….

Final Reflection

June 7, 2025

Before this class, I didn’t really know anything about game design. I just thought a “good” game was one that was fun to play,…

Project 2: Don’t Let The Bedbugs Bite (Group 10)

June 7, 2025

Team: Claire Birge, Luciano Gonzalez, Destiny Tran Saucedo-Martinez, Andrew Lesh Table of Contents: Artist’s Statement: Do you remember the last time you were ever…

P2 Group 13: Escape Disney!

June 7, 2025

Team Fadumo Jama, Clare Chua, Katherine Lu, Malisha Lutchmeea Artist Statement Escape from Disney is our original escape room concept game, with a combined…

P2: Whisk(ers) – Team 23

June 7, 2025

Whisk(ers) Build* | GitHub | Demo Video CS 247G: Design for Play, Spring 2025 Team Members: Kristine Ma, Varsha Saravanan, Sarah Teaw Whisk(ers): Help…

Final Class Reflection

June 7, 2025

Earlier this year, I actually took a narrative theory class that I think had a lot of philosophical overlap with this class. Since I…

Protected: Final Class Reflection – Elliott

June 7, 2025

There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.

Protected: Final Reflection

June 7, 2025

There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.

P2: Microdoze (Group 20)

June 7, 2025

BY: Kelly G., Ari B., Andreas, Gabe M., Lorenzo A., Yosief A. Artist intention: Microdoze. Ever wondered what it was like to be a…

P2: Upstream

June 7, 2025

Here is a link to our team’s GitHub: https://github.com/MonicaHicks/Upstream Artist’s statement  Welcome to Upstream, a vibrant underwater world where players, as fish, chase their…

Final Class Reflection – Victor

June 7, 2025

Hi there! To whoever may be reading this, thank you! Whether you’re a TA, Christina, a classmate, or even a random netizen, thank you…

Final Reflection – Varsha Saravanan

June 7, 2025

I have never considered myself to be a game person. I was never good at video games, and as someone who likes winning, the…

Final Reflection – Andreas

June 7, 2025

This is the story of when a game is more than a game. I played a lot of video games growing up. It started…

Final Class Reflection – Andrew

June 7, 2025

I very much don’t consider myself a gamer, and my relative lack of experience with games of all kinds (both board games and video…

P2: Let’s Get the Band Together! (Group 03)

June 7, 2025

Authors: Jenny Tao, Barry Cheung, Caroline Tran, and Lisa Ing Play our game here!   Initial Decisions Artist’s statement Let’s Get the Band Together!…

Posts pagination

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Welcome to the Stanford HCI Game Design Blog.

Currently this blog holds two formal classes being taught by Christina Wodtke as well as Independent Study Work. In winter of 2022, cs377g was cancelled because of covid-19 uncertainty, and became a study group. You can follow along by looking at the SGSG syllabus and weekly break down.

CS 247G: Design for Play(SYMSYS 195G)

A project-based course that builds on the introduction to design in CS147 by focusing on advanced methods and tools for research, prototyping, and user interface design. Studio based format with intensive coaching and iteration to prepare students for tackling real world design problems. This course takes place entirely in studios; please plan on attending every studio to take this class. The focus of CS247g is an introduction to theory and practice of the design of games. We will make digital and paper games, do rapid iteration and run user research studies appropriate to game design. This class has multiple short projects, allowing us to cover a variety of genres, from narrative to pure strategy. Prerequisites: 147 or equivalent background.

CS 377G: Designing Serious Games

Over the last few years we have seen the rise of "serious games" to promote understanding of complex social and ecological challenges, and to create passion for solving them. This project-based course provides an introduction to game design principals while applying them to games that teach. Run as a hands-on studio class, students will design and prototype games for social change and civic engagement. We will learn the fundamentals of games design via lecture and extensive reading in order to make effective games to explore issues facing society today. The course culminates in an end-of- quarter open house to showcase our games. Prerequisite: CS147 or equivalent. 247G recommended, but not required.

SGSG: Serious Games Study Group

  • Library
    • CS247G Community Game Design Resources
    • Game Design Resources
    • Graphic Design for Game Designers
    • Graphic Design Resources
    • Chapter 11 from Game Balance
  • Read Write Play
    • Hollow Knight: RWP 4 2023
    • Mystic Messenger: RWP 6 2023
    • Undertale: RWP 3 2023
    • What Remains of Edith Finch: RWP 5 2023
    • Catan: RWP1 2023
    • 80 Days: RWP 2 2023
  • 247G Syllabus
    • The Formal Elements of Game Design
    • Design for Play | Week One | Lecture A
    • Design for Play | Week One | Lecture B
    • Design for Play | Week Two | Lecture A
    • Design for Play | Week Two | Lecture B
    • Design for Play | Week Three | Lecture A
    • Design for Play | Week Three | Lecture B
    • Design For Play | Week Four | Section A
    • Design For Play | Week Four | Section B
    • Design for Play | Week Five | Class A
    • Design for Play | Week 5 | Class B
    • Design for Play | Week 6 | Class A (no class)
    • Design for Play | Week 6 | Class B
    • Design for Play | Week 7 | Class A
    • Design for Play | Week 7 | Class B
    • Design for Play | Week 8 | Class A
    • Design for Play | Week 8 | Lecture B
  • Serious Play Study Group Overview
    • Study Group Week by Week Breakdown
      • Formal Elements of Games
      • Final Reflection Essay
    • [Optional Material] What is fun?
    • Project 1: Those Who Play, Teach
      • READING Visual Design of Board Games
      • Pitch Your Teaching Game
      • Sketchnote: Playtesting Boardgames
      • Sketchnote: Erin Hoffman // Wind, Not Sand: Mapping Dynamic Emotion Across a Product Landscape
      • SketchNote: MDAO
      • Critical Play: Write up your game of FLUXX
      • [Optional Material] Playtesting
      • OPTIONAL Board Game Usability
    • P2: The Future We Deserve
      • Critical Play: A Mechanic and a Story to Tell
      • Interactive Fiction: Tiny Playable Prototype
      • Introducing Interactive Fiction
      • Map and Premise
      • Critical Play: Story AND Storytelling games
      • Essay or Sketchnote: Rise of the Video Game Zinesters
      • Sketchnote: Art of game design- Story
      • [Optional Material] Emergence and Progression
      • Essay or Sketchnote: Rise of the Video Game Zinesters
      • Project 2 Reflection Essay
      • Share what you Learned: Writing Excuses Podcast
      • Values at Play & P2 Peer Grading
    • P3: The Game of Unexpected Consequences
      • P3 Concept Doc
      • Playable prototype
      • Working With System Dynamics (mindmap the reading, apply it to your game)
      • Mapping Systems
      • Sketchnote/Response for Rules & Tutorials
      • Project 3 Check-in
      • Project 3 Reflection Essay
    • P4: Refine a game
      • Sketchnote/Response for Playtesting with Strangers
      • Read: Mechanic is the Magic
  • On Sketchnotes
  • Printing at Stanford

Archives

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  • June 2021
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  • September 2020
  • February 2017

Recent Posts

  • P2: Introducing “Wild Space”
  • Read & Play — Animalia (amaru)
  • Read & Play: Game Design as Narrative Architecture
  • Game Design as Narrative Architecture – Leyth Toubassy
  • Read & Play: Game Design as Narrative Architecture by Ngoc

Recent Comments

  • Christina Wodtke on Sketchnote 1 — amaru
  • Christina Wodtke on Sketchnotes: MDAO by Ngoc
  • Among Us Features Gameplay Download Guide | GridBox on Among Us: Critical Play of Social Deduction
  • Hollow Knight and Silksong: Redefining Game Narrative - FizzClick.com | Your Source for Business, Technology & Entertainment News on Hollow Knight, Metroidvanias, and Storytelling
  • Christina Wodtke on Read, Write, Play: Starcraft 2 – Varsha

Categories

  • P2: The Empathy Machine
  • Featured
  • Project One
  • milestone
  • P2: The Future We Deserve
  • mindmap
  • P1: Social Games
  • CS247G
  • Assignments
  • P1: those who play, teach
  • Lectures
  • P2: Games In Space
  • Critical Play
  • P3: The Game of Unexpected Consequences
  • Project Two
  • Project Four REFINE
  • P4: Refine a Game
  • Sketchnotes
  • Project Two: The Future We Deserve
  • From the Instructor
  • Project Three: The Game of Unexpected Consequences
  • ReadWritePlay
  • 377G: Serious Games
  • SGSG

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