I hadn’t been much of a gamer before this class. The only games I had played were a few RPGs and MOBAs like Honor of Kings or Genshin Impact. I started playing digital games only after graduating from college at age 26, which was a fairly late start. Still, I had always wondered what it would be like to design a MOBA game like Honor of Kings. When I played it, I noticed that although the game was free to start, players gradually began investing real money and real time into it. I was curious why this happened, and how a game could be designed to create that kind of pull.
I came into this class expecting it to focus mostly on digital games, or on some of the most popular trends in the industry. But I gained much more than that. The most beneficial change to how I learn, not just about games, but in general, was building the habit of drawing mind maps and sketchnotes. I was never good at art, and I was very reluctant to try the idea of “drawing something to help me remember”; I usually just wrote notes instead. But this class pushed me to start sketching out important concepts for homework, and after a while, I found it extremely beneficial to both my studies and my work. I can now present ideas more concretely, rather than relying only on abstract words. I can use color, shape, and layout to capture my mood or thought process; it is like taking a snapshot of my own mind at the moment I was drawing. I’ve gone back to my sketchnotes many times to review concepts, and I find them far clearer and easier to read than my old notes; they help me remember exactly what I was thinking during the readings. I’ve since started applying this habit to my work as well, whether presenting to a colleague or writing down tasks for a project.
The second biggest thing I learned was about the goals and types of games, and how they create meaning for people. I originally thought games were designed mainly to kill time or make money. But I realized it is much more than that; games can build friendships and create connections, and there are many different ways a designer can achieve that goal, even without a single line of dialogue. The GDC talk on “The Art of Journey” has stayed with me. It offered a comprehensive look at the design process from start to finish, including how the idea came together, the hardships the team faced, and how the game went through many rounds of iteration during development.
The third thing I learned was about playtesting. Making games is truly a team effort. Everyone brings a different strength to the table, and a game only comes together when everyone contributes to the process. That process can be difficult, not only for technical reasons, but also because of how to navigate the differences between people. A game can look great on paper and still fail once it’s actually played. Playtesting is a bit like learning to cook a fancy meal you’ve never made before; you can never get too much input from the people tasting it. Only through playtesting can you see your game from a third-person perspective and understand what needs improvement. You might even discover something interesting about your own game through a playtester’s eyes, something you never noticed yourself. At the same time, I also learned that not all feedback needs to be adopted; part of the process is deciding what to change and what to keep.
I’ll always remember the first game we played in class, Tic-Tac-Toe, and how far that led to our final project, the Cold City. On the first day, it would have seemed like a daunting, even impossible goal, but here we are.
Thank you so much, Christina and the teaching team. It has been a truly rewarding journey.
