Semester(s) Offered: Spring
Credits: 4
Course Call Number: GAMES-GT 151
Prerequisite(s): Game Design I
Taught By: Winnie Song / Naomi Clark / Eric Zimmerman

Game Design II is a one-semester course that builds directly on the class Game Design I. Like the introductory course, the focus in the class is the creation of several non-digital games. While Game Design 1 focused on the basic fundamentals, Game Design 2 emphasizes a range of skills used by professional game designers for iterating, refining, adding substance to, and communicating about games. The course explores specific topics such as level design, the creation of narrative worlds, complex game economies, and concept development. We will cover both the craft and the culture of making games, with an emphasis on how designers convey and express ideas, including an assignment focused on the visual communication of dynamic systems. Although most of the projects will take the form of non-digital design, the course will address the application of ideas and procedures to digital games.

Upon completion of this course, the student will:
1) Gain a deep understanding of games as systems and practice skills related to systems thinking and analysis.
2) Gain the experience of creating several playable games using an iterative design process.
3) Explore advanced topics in game design, such as the creation and adjustment of dynamic economies, facilitating the emergence of story, level design, teaching through designed play, and balancing and tuning of complex games.
4) Learn how to visually communicate dynamic systems and design ideas.
5) Understand principles of applying game design to help convey specific messages.
6) Link the principles of the course to digital games on a variety of platforms.