Perspectives on Games (Autumn 2024)

Abstract

The course presents the students with several perspectives on game analysis and design. The unique aspect of the course is the combination of theoretical and practical approaches. Every unit familiarizes the students with the newest development in game studies and follows it with a presentation by a practitioner. This shows the students the interplay between the academic and industry perspectives. The students must also use the topics raised during the lectures as inspiration for their game creation or their original analyses of game elements.

Description

The aim of the course is to prepare the students to participate in the global narrative surrounding the creation of games - both from theoretical and practical perspectives.

We present the students with cutting-edge technologies and theoretical approaches that shape modern game development and research. Students learn about a variety of perspectives on game design that are tied to the newest technologies. The key distinguishing factor of the course is how it blends the theoretical and practical perspectives as every topic is delivered by two experts - a theoretician and a practitioner. This duality of theory and practice is later mirrored in the deliverables and the exam as the students need to learn to blend both perspectives in their practice.

The current iteration of the course covers the following list of subjects:

• Hypercasual games
• Retrogaming
• Blockchain games
• Machine learning for game testing and prototyping
• Virtual Reality
• Types of Microtransactions
• E-sports
• Emerging game genres

Formal prerequisites

None.

Intended learning outcomes

After the course, the student should be able to:

• The student can identify key perspectives in game research.
• The student can describe contemporary directions of game development.
• The student can analyze and evaluate games using theoretical approaches from contemporary game studies.
• The student can apply concepts and accounts found in contemporary game studies to game design practices.
• Using theoretical and critical approaches presented during the course, the student can to reflect on their own design process.

Ordinary exam