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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: P2: Games In Space

Checkpoint 2: Testable Core

May 13, 2025

Our Figma with ideation and designs! Testable_Core_p2 Video! Game pieces IRL! Clarifying the rules 🙂  

Joaquin Sketchnote 4: Loops and Arcs

May 12, 2025

Checkpoint 1: Concept Doc (Edith Finch Style) – Group 9 (Oliva, Alex, Sue, Victor, Richard, Cecilia)

May 7, 2025

Synopsis The Vessel is a psychological sci-fi horror game set aboard a damaged spaceship drifting in deep space. Players assume the role of Vic,…

Checkpoint 1: Concept Doc (P2-20, Ari, Andreas, Gabe, Kelly, Lorenzo, Yosief)

May 7, 2025

MICRODOZE (ΜΙΧΡΟΔΟΖΕ) Synopsis The game is a collection of wacky and playful environments. Each has its own set of challenges. Our primary protagonists are…

P2 Individual Checkpoint 2 – Andreas

May 7, 2025

Moodboard: My moodboard was mainly based on the style of the game and less so the game mechanics/similarity. I went for a trippy theme…

P2 Individual Concept Design Doc – Gabe

May 7, 2025

Playlist containing music I want to recreate or sample for the in game OST: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1xNTTuEQZUo8aXT3iKI6KG?si=d82a142209194f2c My visions for the artistic product have to do…

Individual Concept Doc P2

May 7, 2025

Playlist:   Mood board:   Emotions I want to evoke: Fear ( eerie vibe that keeps player apprehensive) Frustration( hard enough so they can…

Checkpoint 1: Concept Doc (Individual) — Kristine Ma

May 6, 2025

We started our brainstorming with listing things that were important to us. For example, I wanted narrative in the game, somehow, and one of…

P2 Individual Concept – Clare

May 6, 2025

Condensed inspiration board   Playlist The feelings I’d like to evoke during gameplay for our idea are: Curiosity (but a little confused/feeling small at…

Checkpoint 1: Concept Doc (Edith Finch Style) – Team 14

May 6, 2025

Checkpoint 1_ Concept Doc

Check Point 1: Concept Doc – Group 2

May 6, 2025

1st page intro: For as long as anyone can remember, the Harrow farm was the heart of the valley. A hundred acres of perfect…

Concept Doc: Fishermen’s Wives

May 6, 2025

Hook In a small, unnamed seaside village, the wives of fishermen gather in pairs and small groups after their husbands have fallen asleep. This…

Joaquin Sketchnote 3: Puzzles in Games, Puzzles as Games

May 6, 2025

Checkpoint 1 – Individual

May 6, 2025

Moodboard: Spotify Playlist:   Directions: The women are individualistic. Though they would love to live in a world where they can work together, the…

Individual Team Member Deliverables – Checkpoint 1

May 6, 2025

Emotions To Evoke: Oppressive dread Moral Dilemma Moodboard   Spotify Playlist Directions JRPG: Our group’s first idea was a JRPG where the player explores…

Joaquin P2 Moodboard

May 6, 2025

Emotions: Coziness/warmth despite being surrounded by emptiness Wonder in exploration Smallness/reverence Music:  https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2IvqEcZeNtpOMmOcTN9qc3?si=7d8c9a95934f44df  Directions: My biggest structural inspiration for our game is Super Mario…

Individual Team Member Deliverables – Checkpoint 1 – Sue Shen

May 6, 2025

Emotions to Evoke Unease & Paranoia→ From the moment the ship is isolated, and especially as the parasite’s influence deepens. (e.g. Emma staring coldly,…

Checkpoint 1 Individual Submission- Abbie Maemoto

May 5, 2025

Spotify Playlist (Link) Moodboard   3 emotions Nostalgia Excitement Playful curiosity Direction 1 Multi-player game (4-8 players) Board is similar to chutes and ladders…

Individual Concept Doc P. 20 — Yosief Abraham

May 5, 2025

MoodBoard Game Playlist: Narrative Directions Direction #1: The plot is a fraternity pledge tripping out while completing tasks around the house. Throughout the day…

Individual Concept Doc P2 – Mateus

May 5, 2025

Moodboard The goal of our game is to evoke the following emotions: Suspense Distrust Cunning Fun Playlist   Narrative Directions All the game directions…

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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