Elements of a unified game aesthetics with an eye twoards project 3.

Guest lecture by Courtney Stanton on the how to's of producing videogames.

What does story mean in games, how to construct it, and how to tie it to play elements.

Guest lecture by Ichiro Lambe and Rohit Shenoy on the state and functioning of the independent games industry.

Where to find free audio and graphic elements, tools to generate them yourself, examples of sophisticated games built from easy pieces.

Guest lecture by Seth Sivak on how to design games that are fun to play and teach the player the rules of the world.

A consideration of how choices of game mechanics impact aspects of the play experience. Includes bonus overview of CMS games curriculum.

Guest lecture by Eitan Glinert on best practices for rapid iterative prototyping.

Guest lecture by Jenna Hoffstein on designing games for usability, taking into consideration player attention and visual design.

When, What, Why, and How to cut features from a game.

Tools and techniques for running a development process with diverse and geographically disparate groups.

A presentation on the mechanics of paper prototyping, how to playtest, and forming groups for project 1.

Looking back on and evaluating Sprints, appreciating team members, and recapping sessions.

Analyzing games based on the feeling of their play, decision vs. fate, skill vs. chance, rules vs. play

Detailed breakdown of design process subunits, including kinds of tasks lists with demos, daily scrum and other meetings, and sprint reviews and retrospectives.

Session 7: Quality Assurance and Focus Testing

Elements of a unified game aesthetics with an eye towards project 3.

In part 1 of first class meeting the instructors introduce the course, give an overview, and detail the syllabus.

How to brainstorm in groups.

How to manage videogame development projects: Waterfall, Agile, and Scrum.

A detailed overview of the Agile development process and the product backlog, including examples.