I was lucky enough to begin this class with some minimal game design experience. I’ve loved games for a long time, and in undergrad I joined the local student-run game design club. There, I spent three years on a game, but also participated in a few game jams, essentially getting practice in honing my design experiences. Unfortunately, these activities were not coordinated by professionals. And while these were excellent learning opportunities, it was really learning by doing without any guided participation or pedagogical strategies.
I assumed the class would be intense, but I don’t think I had adequately prepared for the workload. It felt like my prior game jam experiences were mini design cycles. In this class, the training wheels were taken off! Whereas before, I was aiming to get something that worked in a week, in this class I was aiming to get something done that met specific goals. The games I made for CS 377G had to make sense, had to look and work well, usually had a message they were communicating (which all good art should, probably), and needed to be fun! The playing field was now entirely different.
The MDAO framework (I whisper it when I play other games now, it’s just me booting up my Switch whispering mechanics dynamics aesthetics outcomesI) was a good one to start with in order to structure my thinking for the rest of the class projects. Reading through the 4 E’s (enacting, evocative, embedded/environmental, emergent) for narrative games was also really helpful—evidenced by how I worked on interactive fiction twice this quarter; and even though I still have lasting quibbles about what is/is not a system, I can now have a much more nuanced discussion with someone about what processes would constitute a systems game. By far I was most blown away by SOPHIA, the framework for how emotion factors into gameplay and game design. It ties directly into the research I’m building on positive emotion for epistemic purposes, particularly when it comes to identifying how joy helps one persist through productive struggle. This is clearly evidenced by how it is my most developed sketchnote by a longshot!
I am shocked at the fact that I was able to survive this class. I am even more taken aback by the fact that I made games I…actually kind of like?? My prior game jam projects were, well, fine. I’m happy that they exist, I wouldn’t trade those experiences for any others, and I’m proud of them, but I just really didn’t know I could make anything actually good in such a short amount of time.
That said, I think my weakest game was answer me, the IF I made on my own. Cook Off! was a blast to start off the quarter, and I got really lucky with such a good first team. I made lasting friendships in that group. It was through this game that I also realized I need to make time to go back to Figma and strengthen my skills; it’s a tool that I will likely need in industry work I’m aiming for, and I just think it’s super useful for planning and prototyping that it would be a crime to not get more experience using it. NOT ON MY BLOCK felt like the middle child that became the favorite once it grew up and got successful. It was such a tough design process making a systems game, but the end product? 100% worth the trouble. Sleek, entertaining, tactile—and the game pieces? I mean, I’m biased cause I 3D printed them, but they really elevated the play experience. And the continuation of the game is phenomenal. I hope to someday get a copy or re-make one myself if I can’t get the game from the group that continued it. It’s such a good iteration of that P3.
And, of course, Conclave. What a wild writing ride. I’ve been yearning for a creative writing experience since stepping foot back on a college campus. My partner for the game is an exceptional writer. His voice is so strong, you can hear it as you read, and I think it’s his humor writing that really makes it so fun. But I joined the game for P4 because I want to wrestle with subversion and spirituality. And I’m so happy to know that he’s intent on taking it to that point someday, too.
When I make games in the future…I’ll probably ask Christina and Butch to playtest XD. But in all seriousness, when I make games in the future, I will a)refer back to the frameworks b)set myself a deadline shorter than I think I need c)PLAYTEST EARLY AND ALOT!!! b)hit up folks from class, because now we all know each other and will continue to create cool fun s***t in the future, so why not collaborate along the way?
Love love love the class, loved learning with you all, now GO MAKE AWESOME STUFF!
