Hands-On Game Design and Prototyping

Explore the foundations of game design by modifying, remixing, designing and playtesting card and board game prototypes. You will apply the same tools and techniques that video game and tabletop game developers use, to learn about game mechanics, probability, player agency, theme, genre and balance. Students will work together to rapidly design, playtest, evaluate and redesign games to learn what works and what doesn’t. Just like storyboarding for animation or film, physical prototyping lets game designers experiment with, and refine their games before spending time and energy writing code or making finished art. A wide variety of prototyping materials will be available including, blank cards, dice, spinners, markers, paper, and tokens, and will leave with at least one playable, tested game concept.