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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: May 2026

Critical Play: Puzzle, Monument Valley 3

May 8, 2026

Monument Valley 3 (Ustwo Games, directed by Jennifer Estaris, 2024) is a puzzle/exploration game first released on iOS and Android via Netflix Games and…

A Short Hike: The Fantasy of Existing Outside Productivity

May 8, 2026

When I began playing A Short Hike, I found myself surprised by the lack of urgency in the game. Technically, the game has a…

Critical Play: Puzzle Games – Tray

May 8, 2026

Baba Is You is a single-player digital puzzle video game developed and self-published by Arvi Teikari. I downloaded it off of Steam (thanks to…

Critical Play: Monument Valley

May 8, 2026

For this week’s Critical Play, I played Monument Valley, a mobile puzzle game developed by ustwo games for iOS and Android devices. I downloaded…

Critical Play: Puzzles – Terra Nil

May 8, 2026

For this week’s critical play, I played Terra Nil, a city builder-like puzzle game developed by Free Lives studio. It is a unique blend…

Critical Play – Puzzles – Jinpu

May 8, 2026

For this critical play, I played Monument Valley 3, a puzzle game created by ustwo games. I played it on a mobile platform (IOS),…

A Short Hike: where hitting balls with sticks for 30 minutes is more meaningful than climbing a mountain

May 8, 2026

A Short Hike is a game about climbing a mountain, but not really. The game’s real fantasy: a vacation world where freedom does not…

The Kindness Economy in A Short Hike

May 7, 2026

A Short Hike feels like the most innocent game. You’re a little bird visiting her aunt at Hawk Peak Provincial Park, and the whole…

Critical Play: Puzzles

May 7, 2026

Developed by ustwo games for iOS and Android, Monument Valley is designed for a broad audience including casual players, design enthusiasts, and anyone looking…

Sociologist’s Take on a Short Hike

May 7, 2026

First — as a side note, not really relevant itself to the blog post about A SHORT HIKE — I have some deep qualms…

Critical Play: Puzzles

May 7, 2026

The game I played is Portal: First Slice (2007), the free standalone demo of Portal, developed by Valve Corporation. It’s available on PC via…

Critical Play: Worldbuilding – Sally

May 7, 2026

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (BOTW) is an open-world action-adventure game developed by…

Critical Play: Puzzles in Portal 2

May 7, 2026

Game: Portal 2 (2011) Creator: Valve Corporation  Platform: PC (Windows/Mac/Linux), PlayStation 3, Xbox 360  Target Audience: Puzzle game players aged 13+ who enjoy spatial…

Sketchnote: Puzzles – Leyth Toubassy

May 7, 2026

Critical Play: Puzzles

May 7, 2026

I played the game “Factory Balls,” made by Bart Bonne. I remember playing this game when I was 9 years old and still enjoy…

Critical Play: Puzzles

May 7, 2026

Monument Valley Platform: iOS / Android | Developer: ustwo games | Target Audience: Casual to mid-core gamers, ages 12+ There is a moment in…

Critical Play: Puzzles

May 7, 2026

Thinking Outside of the Box(es) Game: Gorogoa Creator: Jason Roberts (published by Annapurna Interactive / Buried Signal) Platform: PC, mobile, console Target Audience: Puzzle…

Jolie – Critical Play: Puzzles

May 7, 2026

Monument Valley is an absolutely beautiful single-player puzzle game developed by ustwo games, a London-based studio. The game targets a broad audience, from casual…

Critical Play: Superliminal – Tianze

May 7, 2026

The game I experienced is Superliminal, a puzzle game developed by pillow castle, available on PC. I played for an hour on PC, progressed…

Critical Play: Puzzles

May 6, 2026

Game: Storyteller (2023) Creator: Daniel Benmergui Interactive Platform: PC, Nintendo Switch, and Netflix mobile Target audience: players who enjoy narrative, logic, and experimental puzzle…

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

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Recent Posts

  • Critical Play–Bluffing, Judging, and Getting Vulnerable
  • Critical Play – Getting Vulnerable – Owen Sample
  • Critical Play: Bluffing, Judging and Getting Vulnerable…
  • Critical Play: Bluffing, Judging and Getting Vulnerable – Cards Aginst Humanity (Clare)
  • Sketchnote: What Games Are and Aren’t

Recent Comments

  • Christina Wodtke on Short Exercise: Learning to Play closely
  • Christina Wodtke on Short Exercise: Learning to Play Closely – Fruit Ninja
  • Aksel Kolasinski on Hi! I’m Mathias
  • Aksel Kolasinski on Self Introduction – Cameron H
  • Jinhyo Huh on Final Reflection – Leo Sui

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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