Set up:
- 5 sessions: discussion, theory and small exercises
- afternoon: teams work on milestones without guidance of teachers
The Program
* Day 1
General description Game design process
Learning objective(s) Understand the process
Subjects Game concepts, GDD (game design document), roles, activities, successful games (e.g. Wii game visually impaired children), production, preconditions, stakeholders, iterative process, Game concept: paper prototype, research target audience
References Leupen, Willems
Products / milestones Form teams, draft project plan
Lecturers Willems & Leupen
* Day 2
General descriptionSerious games
Learning objective(s) What is a serious game?
Subjects The 9 elements, combination b/c/e (behaviour, cognition, emotion), Case Wii game, importance of target audience, co-design, participatory design, target audience: mood boards, persona, learning outcomes, project plan
References Overmars
Products / milestones Target audience, personas, mood board
Exercise: desk research target audience, develop personas and mood board
Lecturers Willems & Leupen
* Day 3
General descriptionGame theory
Learning objective(s) Know and understand game theories
Subjects Keys of fun (Lazarro), Flow (Mihály Csíkszentmihályi. Develop a game based on an existing game
References Contacts at UMCG (virtual environment), MadLogic
Products / milestones Exercise Dice game, paper prototype
Set up test, observation forms (game play, fun)
Lecturers Willems & Leupen
* Day 4
General descriptionConcept game & production process
Learning objective(s) Concept game design, SCRUM
Subjects Psychology, actions & challenges, storytelling (Jef Cook). Organization of production process (SCRUM), scrum board, tools (e.g. Trello)
References J Cook
Products / milestones Scrum board, based on game concept
Game concept
Game production
Lecturers Willems & Leupen
* Day 5
General descriptionEvaluation
Learning objective(s) Know how to test and evaluate a game
Subjects Make SMART, observable units, research setup and implementation
References Agile development
Products / milestones Game finalizing, Evaluation, results
Test game and adjust
Presentation
Lecturers Willems & Leupen
Basic rationale:
Our perspective: classes are intended as an introduction to game design and a cultural ice breaker.
Style of lectures: theory and exercises.
Roles individual: immediately show results, iterative
Match / collaboration Groningen/Prague
The guest lectures are set up as workshops in which the different stages of game development are addressed up until a prototype of a cardboard game. During the workshops, students are exposed to: game theory (fun, flow, game balance, challenges and actions), the game design process (research and user centred design), testing and evaluating, working in teams and the different roles associated in game production.
Lecturers: Rob Willems & Harro Leupen, Hanze University Groningen, The Netherlands