Chu – The Mechanics of Magic

Final Class Reflection

June 2, 2022

Before taking CS247G, I always imagined game designers to be some kind of mysterious, super smart, ultra creative people. Game design seemed very out…

Sketchnote: Terror in Subnautica

May 27, 2022

Critical Play: Is this game balanced? – Magic Awakened

May 26, 2022

One game that I love to play is Harry Potter Magic Awakened, a Harry Potter themed mobile game co-developed by Warner Bros. Games and…

Sketchnote: Onboarding in Plants vs Zombies

May 23, 2022

Critical Play: Puzzles – Gorongoa

May 19, 2022

Gorongoa is a puzzle game developed by Jason Roberts. It is available on various platforms such as Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, iOS, Android, etc….

Sketchnote/Mindmap: Puzzles in Games, Puzzles as Games

May 16, 2022

Critical Play: Mysteries – Year Walk

May 11, 2022

For this critical play, I tried out Year Walk, a creepy mystery game made by a Swedish game developer Simogo. It is available on…

Sketchnote: The Role of Architecture in Videogames

May 10, 2022

Critical Play: Walking Simulators – Dear Esther

May 5, 2022

I played Dear Esther, one of pioneers of first-person walking simulator games. Dear Esther was created by The Chinese Room and redeveloped by Robert…

Sketchnote: Game Architecture

May 3, 2022

A game that I play almost everyday is Harry Potter: Magic Awakened. It is a meta game that includes many mini games within….

Mindmap: Narrative Architecture

May 1, 2022

Checkpoint 1: Concept Doc – Moodboard, Playlist, Directions

May 1, 2022

Moodboard Playlist Directions Undercover roommate: Story: Your roommate who is a straight A student and never misses class, does not show up for the…

Sketchnote: Balancing Games: Chance and Skill

April 26, 2022

Critical Play: Bluffing, Judging and Getting Vulnerable — skribbl.io

April 22, 2022

For this play test, I chose to play skribbl.io. This game is a multiplayer drawing and guessing game. It is offered for free to…

Project 1: Social / Party Game — Movie Madness

April 21, 2022

Designed and created by: Chu Zhang, Sam Silverstein, Rebecca Jia, Grace Zhou Artist’s Statement Our vision for Movie Madness was simple: create a game…

Sketchnote: Game Design Patterns for Building Friendships

April 19, 2022

Visual Design of Games

April 18, 2022

Elements of Cheese or Font: Core A list of 50 words to guess whether they are the names of a font or a type…

Critical Play: Competitive Analysis – New Phone, Who Dis

April 14, 2022

Our team’s game is a type of hilarious comparison card game, so for the competitive analysis I chose to try out New Phone, Who…

What do Prototypes Prototype

April 12, 2022

Do the noun and verb cards fit in the plot cards to create something that makes sense? Our game asks players to fill out…

MDA & 8 Kinds of Fun – Overcooked 2

April 12, 2022

A game that I like to play with friends and family is Overcooked 2. Overcooked 2 is a game where players collaborate together to…