About the Class

Foundations of Game Design teaches students the basics concepts for game designers, emphasizing methodologies and techniques of “play-centric design”. This course will enable students in creating playable systems more efficiently and communicate effectively on topics of game design, development, and presentation.

This class combines elements of a studio production course with theory and lectures structured around the development and production of two games: a tabletop game mod and a digital game of portfolio-quality.

Course Objectives

The course combines elements of a studio production course with theory and lecture, covering topics such as:

• Theory behind game design
• Ideation development
• Prototyping
• Play-testing
• Polishing
• Presentation

Students are not required to have knowledge of programming languages or prior experience with digital game development tools. Students with more advanced programming skills will be given the option to add more complex elements to their digital game project.

Additional Information

• All dates and times are subject to change.
• Additional tutorials are taught outside scheduled class hours.

INSTRUCTOR(S): Ed Zobrist & Sean Bouchard Bloom