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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

Category: Critical Play

Critical Play: World Building (Super Mario World)

May 13, 2025

Super Mario World (emulator) encourages the reader to care about its “super” world through its formal structure. Every gameplay action is designed to inform…

Protected: Critical Play: Worldbuilding

May 11, 2025

There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.

Critical Play: Worldbuilding – Eleanor

May 10, 2025

I played the game “The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.” It was created by Nintendo and released in 2017, it and is…

Critical Play: Puzzles

May 10, 2025

The game I played this week is called Factory Balls It is a puzzle game where the user is tasked with painting a blank…

Critical Play: Puzzles – Claire

May 10, 2025

For this week’s Critical Play, I played Factory Balls, developed by Bart Bonte. The game is available on iOS, Android, Windows, MacOS, and any…

Critical Play: Portal

May 9, 2025

For this critical play, I played the beloved classic Portal. Portal is a game for everyone, was created by gaming powerhouse Valve, and runs…

Critical Play: Puzzles

May 9, 2025

This week, I played Factory Balls, a family puzzle game created by Bart Bonte Games for those ages 4 and up. Available on iOS,…

Critical Play: Puzzles

May 9, 2025

A Little to the Left was created by the indie game studio Max Inferno Games — a two person team Annie Macmillan and Lukas…

Critical Play: Puzzles – Varsha Saravanan

May 9, 2025

 Game Name: The Room Game’s Creator: Fireproof Games Platform: Compatible with Nintendo Switch, Microsoft Windows, Mobile App (iOS, Android) Target Audience: Individuals aged 13+…

Critical Play – Puzzles

May 9, 2025

Monument Valley 2, developed by Ustwo, is a puzzle game that you can download through Netflix games on iOS, Android, and Windows. The story…

Critical Play: Puzzles

May 9, 2025

Game: The Room: Old Sins Creator: Fireproof Games Platform: Windows, iOS, Android Target Audience: While the suggested age on the app store is 9+,…

Critical Play: Puzzles – Sue Shen

May 9, 2025

Monument Valley, developed by ustwo games, is a visually striking puzzle game that blends optical illusions, architectural surrealism, and minimalist storytelling into a singular…

Critical Play: Puzzles – Yinlin Zhao

May 9, 2025

Portal is a video game by the game developer Valve, which can be played on PC and console systems. The age range of its…

Critical Play: Puzzles – Abbie

May 9, 2025

Introduction I played The Room, a puzzle game designed by Robert Dodd and Mark Hamilton and published by Fireproof Games, which was available on…

Critical Play: Puzzles

May 9, 2025

Name: Two Dots Creator: PlayDots, Inc. Platform: iOS, Android Target Audience: Players that like destressing games or simplistic puzzle games,  Through playing Two Dots,…

Critical Play 6: Puzzles (Storyteller)

May 9, 2025

Storyteller, a game created by Daniel Benmergui and Annapurna Interactive, is a puzzle game intended for casual gamers and narrative game enthusiasts (ages 13+)….

Critical Play: Puzzles – Sarah Teaw

May 9, 2025

The puzzle game I played was factory balls and it was developed by Bart Bonte, a Belgian game designer. The target audience is anyone…

Critical Play: Puzzles – Mateo LF

May 9, 2025

2 a.m., red eyes, and a very long day behind me. I remembered a pending Critical Play on puzzles – probably the last thing…

Critical Play: Puzzles – Andrew

May 9, 2025

Portal is a first-person puzzle platformer originally made by Valve for Windows, PS3, and Xbox 360 (though it has since been ported to Mac…

Critical Play: Factory Balls Forever – Victor

May 9, 2025

Factory Balls Forever is a modern reimagining of one of the internet’s most memorable logic games. Created by Bart Bonte, it’s a remaster of…

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

Archives

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Recent Posts

  • Sketchnote: Loops & Arcs
  • Sketchnote: Loops & Arcs
  • Sketchnote: Loops & Arcs
  • Sketchnote: Addiction by Design – Ilaria
  • Loops and Arcs – Mai Mostafa

Recent Comments

  • amaru on Critical Play: Mysteries & Escape Rooms – Amelia Chen
  • suyeshen on Critical Play: Bluffing, Judging and Getting Vulnerable – Sue Shen
  • Izzy on P2: AI Judgment Day
  • Izzy on P2: The Future We Deserve – The Broadcast
  • Izzy on P2: Pokemon The Next Adventure

Categories

  • Featured
  • Project One
  • P2: The Future We Deserve
  • milestone
  • 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
  • Sketchnotes
  • P4: Refine a Game
  • 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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