Game Design Assignments

In-Class Assignments

All work is started in class on the date shown on the syllabus, and is due before the next class meeting. Assignments count toward your participation grade.

A.K.A.	Assignment
HW1	Create an ePortfolio for this class.* Go to http://stonybrook.digication.com/ and login using your NetID. Click on the e-Portfolios tab, and Create a new e-Portfolio for this class. If you have never created a digication eportfolio before, be sure to look at the Quick Start Guide. Create a Title. Under Permissions, make it Private within SBU. Choose a tagging option (any one is fine). Click on Create New e-Portfolio. In the Home section, select Rich Text and click on Add This Module. Enter some basic information about you as a potential (or current) game designer. It should include: Your name A picture of you Your email address Anything you think is relevant to game design. Examples include games you like to play; skills you have; past experience with designing/creating games. Click on Save, and then Publish This Page. You can click on the Published tab to see what everyone else can see. If you are not happy with it, or want to make changes, you can always go back and Edit. Complete the FORM describing your game design credentials. * If you would rather use some other web-based platform for the class, that is fine. Just be sure that I and your fellow students can access it. Be sure to include the required information, and send me the link.
HW2	Create a puzzle inspired by a story from today's newspaper. Write the title of the puzzle, the rules of the puzzle, and any other guiding diagrams by hand on a piece of paper. The title of the puzzle should be the headline of the story. Be sure to also indicate the source of the news story it is based on. Hand it in, on paper, with the solution written on the back.
HW3	Serious games are games that aim to do more than entertain. Play one of the following games (assigned in class): The McDonalds Game Anti-Phishing Phil The ReDistricting Game 3rd World Farmer Data Dealer Diabetic Dog Answer the following questions as best you can: What idea or theme does this serious game express? What is its underlying purpose? What is the player's objective in the game? What is the core mechanic of the game? How does that reinforce the theme? What resources are retained? How are they shown to the player? What are the potential outcomes in the game?
HW4	Make the game of Checkers more interesting by adding dramatic elements to it: Create a story for the game. Briefly describe the premise and the storyline, including any conflicts and/or goals of the characters. Explain how the game mechanics and goals of the game fit into your story. You might even suggest special meanings for different areas of the board. Design the characters for the game. Explain how they fit into the story. Be sure to include: a picture physical / personality characteristics character's motivation in the story Post your design in your ePortfolio page.
HW5	Bring a board game (or other physical non-computer-based game) to class. Now play at least 2 different games that you or a classmate brought to class. As you play the game, consider ... What type of player interaction is in play? What is the objective of the game? How do the procedures and core mechanic help the players to achieve this objective? What physical objects are used in the game? What are their properties/behaviors/relationships? What type of information structures are present? Are these structures open, hidden, mixed, dynamic? What type of cybernetic feedback loop(s) are present? Negative feedback loops maintain balance (i.e. as you do better, it gets harder to win) Positive feedback loops amplify early gains/losses (i.e. doing well in the beginning of the game makes it easier to win) Create a new page in your ePortfolio and describe the game there.
HW6	Playtest Project #1 Your team will be placed in a group of teams. Each team will take turns being Observers and Players. Observers open up the ePortfolio for their project, and set up the game prototype. Players read the rules, and then play the game. Observers can give some guidance, but should mostly just watch the players. At the end of the playtest, Observers write comments in their own project's ePortfolio. Answer the following questions: Were the playtesters able to start playing right away? At what points did they seem happy? excited? frustrated? confused? bored? What did you have to explain that they couldn't figure out themselves? How could you make that more apparent? How could we make the play experience better for these playtesters? At the end of the playtest, Players write comments in the ePortfolio for the game they playtested. Answer the following questions: Where does this game lie in the play matrix? If it is not clear, say so. Was it clear, from the information given, how to play and win the game? If anything was confusing, explain. Did the game drag at any point? Were there particular aspects that you found satisfying and/or exciting? Is there anything you didn't like about the game? Be specific. If there was one thing you could change about this game, what would it be? Was this game fun to play? How could it be made more fun?
HW7	Playtest Project #2 Pairs of teams will playtest each others' prototypes. The first team shows the other team their ePortfolio and explains the premise of the game. Members of the second team then take turns playing with the digital prototype. All of the members of the first team are Observers, and will answer Observer questions as comments in their own ePortfolio: Were the playtesters able to play the prototype with little instruction? What would make its use more intutitive? At what points did they seem happy? excited? frustrated? confused? bored? How could you make this more fun for them? All members of the second team are Playtesters, and will answer Playtester questions as comments in the ePortfolio for the game being playtested: What hobby is the game based on? Do the game mechanics in the game appropriately represent the actions of a hobbyist? Are the mechanics of the game fun? If not, how could it be made more fun? Is it clear, from the information given, how to play and win the game? If anything was confusing, explain. What do you think of the overall premise of this game. Is this something you would want to play? If not, is it something that someone you know would like to play? Switch roles, so the second team becomes the Observers and the first team becomes the Playtesters.
HW8	Playtest Project #2 Pairs of teams will playtest each others' prototypes. The first team shows the other team their ePortfolio and explains the premise of the game. Members of the second team then take turns playing with the digital prototype. All of the members of the first team are Observers, and will answer Observer questions as comments in their own ePortfolio: Were the playtesters able to play the prototype with little instruction? What would make its use more intutitive? At what points did they seem happy? excited? frustrated? confused? bored? How could you make this more fun for them? All members of the second team are Playtesters, and will answer Playtester questions as comments in the ePortfolio for the game being playtested: What hobby is the game based on? Do the game mechanics in the game appropriately represent the actions of a hobbyist? Are the mechanics of the game fun? If not, how could it be made more fun? Does the look-and-feel of the game appropriately reflect the hobby? How are the symbols, objects, and actions of the hobby built into the game? Does the game screen provide adequate information about how the player is doing? Is it clear, from the information given, how to play and win the game? If anything was confusing, explain. What do you think of the overall premise of this game. Is this something you would want to play? If not, is it something that someone you know would like to play? Switch roles, so the second team becomes the Observers and the first team becomes the Playtesters.
HW9	Playtest Project #3 Assemble into groups of teams. The first team shows the others their design. One member of the team explains the premise of their game: the location it's based on, the theme of the game, and the culture that is intended to be reflected in the game. One member of team then walks the others through the game using the flowboard. If it is not apparent, explain what you expect to be happening on the screen, and what the player is able to do, for each scene. If it is a branching story, you may want to go through this a couple of times. Everyone watching and listening are Playtesters. After the playtest session is completed, answer the following questions as comments in the ePortfolio for the game being playtested: Is the theme of the game reflected in the choices the player is offered and what happens in the game? What sort of culture is being reflected in the game? Is it appropriate? How can it be shown better? What game mechanics are anticipated for this game? Are there alternative game mechanics that would make this game more fun? How does the game end? Is it a satisfying end? Is this something you might want to play more than once? If not, what would make it better? Switch roles, repeating #2 with a different team showing the game. Repeat until all teams have had a chance to show their games.
HW10	Playtest Project #3 Assemble into groups of teams: Playtest the first team's game design: The first team shows their game design to the other teams. Explain the premise of the game: the locaction it's centered on, and the culture that is intended to be reflected in the game. You may also indicate whether you intend to reinforce, challenge, or transform the culture. Show the digital prototype, explaining what is being demonstrated by the prototype (e.g. mechanics, aesthetics). If possible, let the playtesters test out the mechanics. Everyone watching and listening are Playtesters. Playtesters must answer the following questions as comments in the ePortfolio for the game being playtested: How is the culture of the location reflected in the game? Is the culture being reinforced, challenged, or transformed? Do the mechanics relate well to the theme of this game? Are the mechanics fun and engaging, or tedious at times? How could the team make the game mechanics more fun and engaging? What mood is conveyed by the graphics and sounds? Is it appropriate for the game theme? Does the layout clearly show what the player can do and how well the player is doing? How could the team make the aesthetics more appropriate and player-friendly? Is this something you might want to play more than once? If not, what would make it better? Switch roles, repeating #2 with a different team showing the game. Repeat until all teams have had a chance to show their games.

Team Projects

You will work on three (3) team projects over the semester. For each project, you will be given a specific problem to solve. For each project you will need to do the following with your team:

Get together with your team and decide who on the team is in charge of what. Everyone should take charge of at least one thing. Things you may be in charge of are ...

ePortfolio creation and maintenance - for someone good at web design & development
writing about the project - for someone good at writing
artwork, including character and setting design - for someone with artistic skills
audio - for someone with musical/audio skills
prototype development - for someone with building and/or programming skills/experience

Create an ePortfolio for the project

Go to http://stonybrook.digication.com/ and login using your NetID.
Click on the e-Portfolios tab, and Create a new e-Portfolio for this class. If you have never created a digication eportfolio before, be sure to look at the Quick Start Guide.
Create a Title. Give it a name indicating the Game and Team designation (e.g. Game_1_Team_Z).
Under Template, choose Create From Scratch. Later on, under Settings, you can choose to customize with your own icon, header, and other desired formatting changes.
Under Permissions, make it Private within SBU. Click on Custom Permissions and add the other team members (using their Stony Brook email) and give them Admin status.
Choose a tagging option (any one is fine).
Allow Comments from Registered Users, and Show Comments Immediately.
Click on Create New e-Portfolio.

Create appropriate sections in the ePortfolio for the design elements required for each project. One section should describe the Team, listing all the members and what each person is in charge of. The Vision Statement should appear on the main page. See below for details on what else is required for each project.
Playtest the games, and enter your responses in the appropriate e-Portfolios. Note that this counts as a homework assignment, so see the assignments above for specifics. See Assignments in Blackboard to see who evaluates what.
Present your final game design in class. Imagine you are pitching your design to a publisher. You have 5 minutes. Some things you may want to explain or cover ...
- A title and pitch for the game
- The purpose of the game, who it is intended for, and why this is important
- How you solved the specific problem that you were given for this assignment
- Who you think this will appeal to, and what they will find to be fun about it
- Demonstrate using the prototype (required)

Here are further details for each project:

Project 1: Take an existing physical (non-digital) game and modify the formal elements to create a completely different game. Things you may change are:

Player interaction patterns: e.g. take a competitive game and make it either cooperative or collaborative.
Objectives: e.g. if the original objective is capture, make the objective a chase, race, or alignment.
Procedures: e.g. change the core mechanic of the game.
Rules: e.g. modify restrictions on actions that players can and cannot make.
Resources: add new resources to the game and take away existing ones.

As you design this game, be sure to create the following:

Vision statement, posted as a section in the project's ePortfolio. This must include ...
- Title of the game
- Pitch: a snappy 1 sentence that makes people want to play
- Audience & genre: what type of game it is, and who will likely play it
- Synopsis including
  - Premise: theme, goals, how to win
  - Mechanics: what player does to achieve goals
  - Look and feel: what it feels like to play the game
  - Uniqueness: what makes this different from other games?
- 1 image showing a snapshot of what the game screen will look like
Rules and procedures for playing the game. This should be complete enough that someone should be able to play just by following directions here. Post this as a separate section in the project's ePortfolio.
Physical prototype. This should be sufficient to allow playtesters to experience playing the game.

Project 2: Consider a hobby that people occupy their time with (other than playing a sport or a game). Using that hobby as the premise, design a game for an Android tablet where the core mechanic of the game relates to the actions taken in that hobby. As you design this game, be sure to create the following:

Vision statement, posted as a section in the project's ePortfolio. This must include ...
- Title of the game
- Pitch: a snappy 1 sentence that makes people want to play
- Audience & genre: what type of game it is, and who will likely play it
- Synopsis including
  - Premise: the hobby this is based on, goals of the game, how to win/succeed
  - Mechanics: what player does to achieve goals
  - Look and feel: what it feels like to play the game
  - Uniqueness: what makes this different from other games?
- 1 image showing a snapshot of what the game screen will look like
Paper prototype. For the first playtest, use paper or other physical materials to protoype the core mechanic, so playtesters get a feel for what it's like to play the game.
Digital prototype. For the second playtest, prototype the core mechanic AND the aesthetics of the game.

Project 3: Design a digital game for a specific physical context, such as a landmark, LIRR train car, Starbucks cafe, etc. The game should either reinforce, challenge, or transform the cultural ideology of the chosen context through the play of the game. As you design this game, be sure to create the following:

Vision statement, posted as a section in the project's ePortfolio. This must include ...
- Title of the game
- Pitch: a snappy 1 sentence that makes people want to play
- Audience & genre: what type of game it is, and who will likely play it
- Synopsis including
  - Theme: the physical context and its current cultural ideology
  - Goals: goals of the game, how to win/succeed
  - Mechanics: what player does to achieve goals
  - Uniqueness: what makes this different from other games?
- 1 image showing a snapshot of what the game screen will look like
Flowboard. This should show the progression of the game, and the choices available to the players at each point. Develop this as a physical prototype to be used in the first playtest.
Digital prototype. Prototype both the mechanic, so playtesters get a feel for what it's like to play the game, and the aesthetics, so playtesters get a sense of the look-and-feel of the game.