• Games Design as Cultural Practice
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  LMC 4725/63255: GAMES DESIGN AS CULTURAL PRACTICE

Course Schedule


Download as PDF
Notes:
  • The dates listed are the in-class dates that we will cover those readings and games. In other words, Students are expected to have played, read, thought, and analyzed the texts by the days listed, and SPOILERS will be fair game.
  • Games may all be played via the students' personal computers, unless otherwise noted.
  • Weeks are presented as Monday - Sunday
  • Slides will be linked, following each class day
  • PDF and Accordion Menu are accurate through the semester
Week 1: 8/21 - 8/27 
Monday: Introduction to Class
Wednesday: Casuals; Meaningful Play; Design Systems; Interactivity
Play: Two Dots (iOS and Android)*
*Time-box play for ~2 hours OR until you get past regular dots (to ice, fire, etc.). Note as well that you are not required to make ANY in-game purchases.
Read: ​Salen and Zimmerman, “Core Concepts: Meaningful Play, Design, Systems, Interactivity,” in Rules of Play, 31-70.

Slides (as PDF)

​Sunday: Game-Play Vlog Alto's Adventures Due, 11:59 pm
Week 2: 8/28 - 9/3
Monday: Casuals; Defining Games; Defining Digital Games; The Magic Circle/Diegesis; Rules
Play: Alto's Adventures (iOS and Android)*
*Play long enough to unlock a second character (You may play longer if you want, of course).
Read:  
  • Salen and Zimmerman, "Core Concepts: Defining Games, Defining Digital Games, The Magic Circle, The Primary Schema,” in Rules of Play, 71-105.
  • Salen and Zimmerman, “Rules: Defining Rules, Rules on Three Levels, The Rules of Digital Games,” In Rules of Play, 116-149.

Slides (PDF)

Tuesday: Game-Play Vlog, Braid​, Due 11:59 PM
Wednesday: Tropes; Failure
Play: Braid 
Read: Jesper Juul, Introduction: The Paradox of Failure”, The Art of Failure (MIT Press: 2013).
E-book Available on via Getech Libraries .
Watch: Feminist Frequency, "Damsel in Distress" (Parts 1, 2, & 3) Tropes vs. Women in Video Games, Available.

Slides (PDF)
WeeK 3: 9/4 - 9/10 
Monday: Labor Day, No Class
Wednesday: Prototyping; Design Practice; Playtesting
Read: ​
  • Salen and Zimmerman, “The Design Process,” in Rules of Play, 11-21;
  • Filament Games, “PlayTesting” Whitepaper, Available.
  • ​League of Gamemakers, “How to Playtest: Part 3: Being a Good Playtester." Available.
In-Class: Play-test 1
Friday: Prototype 1 Due, 11:59 pm
Sunday: Game-Play Vlog, 80 Days, Due 11:59 pm
Week 5: 9/18 - 9/24 
Monday: Storytelling / Narrative
Play: Braid & 80 Days
Read: 
  • Salen and Zimmerman, "Defining Play,” in Rules of Play, 301-312.
  • ​Salen and Zimmerman, “Games as Narrative Play,” in Rules of Play, 377-419
Wednesday: Storytelling / Narrative
Play: 80 Days 
Read:
  • Ian Bogost, "Video Games are Better Without Stories," The Atlantic (Apr. 25, 2017). Available.
  • What a Terrible Fate, "Video Games are Better Without Stories: A Reply." Available.
In-Class: Phillip Roberts, 6325 Game Workshop

Slides for both days
Sunday: Game-Play Vlogs, The Path & Dear Esther Due, 11:59 pm
Week 6: 9/25 - 10/1
Monday: Storytelling / Narrative
Play: The Path; Dear Esther
Read: Jesper Juul, “Fictional Failure,” from The Art of Failure (MIT Press: 2013). T-Square.
Wednesday: Storytelling / Narrative 
In-Class Playtest 2
Friday: Prototype 2 Due, 11:59 pm
Sunday: Game-Play Vlog, Gone Home Due, 11:59 pm
Week 7: 10/2 - 10/8
Monday: Gender/Sexuality
Play: Gone Home
Read: 
  • Salen and Zimmerman, “Games as the Play of Experience,” in Rules of Play, 313-328;
  • merritt kopas, "On Gone Home," in Queer Game Studies, 145-149.
Slides
Tuesday: Game-Play Vlog, Choice:Texas Due, 11:59 pm
Wednesday: Gender/Sexuality
Play: Choice:Texas
Read: ​Salen and Zimmerman, “Defining Culture” and “Games as Cultural Rhetoric,” in ​Rules of Play, 505-536;
Slides
Sunday: Game-Play Vlogs, The Coming Out Simulator & Mainichi Due, 11:59 pm
Week 8: 10/9 - 10/15
Monday: No Class, Fall Break
Wednesday: Gender/Sexuality
Play:
  • The Coming Out Simulator
  • Mainichi
​Read: Salen and Zimmerman, “Games as the Play of Simulation,” in Rules of Play, 421-46.
​Slides
Friday: Prototype 3 Due, 11:59 pm; Optional Play-testing out of class
Sunday: Game-Play Vlog, Chroma Due, 11:59 pm
Week 9: 10/16 - 10/22
Monday: Race/Ethnicity
Play:
  • Mainichi 
  • Chroma 
Read: Salen and Zimmerman, "Games as the Play of Meaning,” in Rules of Play, 363-376
Wednesday: Race/Ethnicity
​Play: Lim
Read: Tanner Higgin, "The Trap of Representation," Available.
In-Class: 6325 Workshop 3
Sunday: Game-Play Vlog Never Alone Due, 11:59 pm
Week 10: 10/23 - 10/29
Monday:​ Race/Ethnicity
​Play: Never Alone
​
Read: Lisa Nakamura "Race and Digital Media," T-Square. *(if you did not read for Wed 10/18)
Tanner Higgin, "The Trap of Representation," Available. *(if you did not read for Wed 10/18)
Simon Parkin, "Never Alone: Could a Video Game Help Preserve Inuit Culture?" The New Yorker, Available.
Matt Kamen, "How Never  Alone Turns Cultural Heritage into Video Game History," Wired, Available.
Wednesday: Race/Ethnicity
In-Class Playtest 4
Friday: Prototype 4 Due, 11:59 pm
Sunday: Game-Play Vlog, Papers, Please! Due 11:59 pm
Week 11: 10/30 - 11/3
Monday: Nation / Globe
​Play: Papers, Please
Read: Salen and Zimmerman, "Games as Systems of Information," in Rules of Play (203-212);
Rob Parker, "The Art of Papers, Please: Juul's The Art of Failure Meets Lucas Pope's Papers, Please." First Person Scholar. Available.
Kristian Redhead Ahm, "Strategic Ambiguity: Papers Please and the Virtues of Silence," First Person Scholar, Available.
Leah Alexander, "Designing the Bleak Genius of Papers, Please," Gamasutra. Available. 
Tuesday: Game-Play Vlog, Superbug Due, 11:59 pm
Wednesday: Nation/Globe
Play: Superbug (iOS, Android)
Read: Salen and Zimmerman, "Games as Information Theory Systems," in Rules of Play (191-203).
In-Class: 6325 Workshop 4
Sunday: Game-Play Vlog, Fate of the World Due, 11:59 pm
week 12: 11/6 - 11/10
 Monday: Nation/Globe
Play: Fate of the World
​Read: Salen and Zimmerman, "Games as Cultural Environment," in Rules of Play (571-587);
Hans-Joachim Backe, "Greenshifting Game Studies," First Person Scholar, Available. 
Wednesday: Nation/Globe
In-Class: Playtest 5
Friday: Prototype 5 Due, 11:59 pm
Week 13: 11/13-11/17
Monday: Lab: Requirements for Final Game Production 
In-Class: Edward Zhang, 6325 Game Workshop
Wednesday: Lab
Week 14: 11/20 - 11/24
Monday: Lab: Game-Play Trailers and Paratexts
Wednesday: No Class, Thanksgiving Holiday
Week 15: 11/27-12/1
Monday: Lab: Game-Play Tutorials
Wednesday: Lab
Week 16: 12/4
Monday: Final Instructional Day
Games Showcase: Time/Place TBD

Instructor:
Dr. Sarah W. Laiola
Office Location:
Stephen C. Hall Building, 121-7
Office Hours:
W, 12:00-2:00 (and by appointment)
Email: sarah.lozier@lmc.gatech.edu

Course Location:
Skiles 346
Course Time:
​MW, 3:00-4:15


The Images used throughout are representative of the games we will play and analyze in this course. They are not mine, and are included here for educational purposes only. 
  • Games Design as Cultural Practice
  • Announcements
  • Course Policies
  • Schedule
  • Assignments