I had always been interested in game design, but never really got around to doing much of anything outside of tinkering in roblox studio. So, technically, this is my only game design experience ever! It was extremely stressful, but I ultimately also found it very fun!
For one, I completely forgot about the fact that people develop board games as well. My mind has always zeroed in on video games as the only games that are developed, but CS247G reminded me otherwise. Making analog games proves to be an interesting but fun challenge. Even if my P1 project wasn’t amazing by Butch’s standards, it was still a very informative learning practice!
The big thing that will stick with me from this class is: playtest, revise, playtest, revise, playtest, revise, repeat! Most games will look nothing like their final versions, and that is because they have had actual human beings play the game and give them feedback for how to improve it. It is such a simple, but effective, way to make your games better. It makes the process of making a video game feel far more accessible to make: as long as you have a decent idea you can make it work and improve on it by receiving feedback from others.
Such a case where I saw the power of feedback was in P2. We had a playtester who exposed dozens of bugs and issues regarding the digital component of our game, and while it was kind of embarrassing at first, incorporating their feedback into our game turned it into a far more enjoyable experience than before!
The other big concept that stuck with me was character design. I’ve never made any games, but I have made many an original character, and the lecture we received on character design really got me thinking about my own characters. I’ve began to think more about how I can improve their designs so that it better communicates their character to first time viewers, which is something I want to work more on during the summer. In addition, I’ve also thought about the ethics of my character designs (bringing in insights from the lecture on trying to write about cultures you are not in a position to write about). It has caused me to think deeper about the designs my characters are given, and to be extra careful writing in a perspective that I did not live.
The biggest challenges from this class were honestly the homework assignments. There were tons of them, often taking quite a bit of time to complete, and sometimes felt a bit like busy work. It was hard to manage this class with the workload of other classes in my schedule, but I completely understand the reason behind it. And I’m glad that the teaching team’s words regarding the homework came true: sketchnotes and critical plays did get easier to write as we did more of them! I feel as though I am more familiar with game design and playing games as a developer would, and even now I try to think of the mechanics of games that I enjoy and play on a daily basis.
In the end, I got exactly what I wanted out of this class, and I am glad I took CS247G! Even if it was difficult, it was fun to the very end.
I always think of 247G as fiero–hard fun. You work hard, play hard and make magic (and yes, Butch has very high standards!)