Seminar Syllabus

 

This course is divided in three sections: One basic theory section, one practice section and one advanced theory section. The basic theory section addresses fundammental texts for games studies, including Man, Play and Games and The Rules of Play. The Practice section focuses on inventing rules for and programming one simple game in Flash MX (of which a a Trial version can be downloaded for free at macromedia). In this part of the course, we will also help organize a game exhibit on the subject of "ilovebees", the pervasive game recently developed by Jane McGonigal, among others. The Advanced Theory section focuses on developing novel approaches to rhetorics of electronic, distributed, pervasive games. The final product of the last section is one publishable research paper by each course participant. As a service to the emerging Game Studies community, we will also develop an opensource Game encyclopedia with definitions and summaries generated in our discussions. each course particpant is expected to produce at least three entries.

The weekly seminar topics for the mandatory discussion on Monday afternoons and the optional workshop on Wednesday afternoons are organized according to the three course sections listed below. Concurrently with the weekly discussion and workshop, Steve Seid and the Pacific Film Archive has organized a screening series on Games. Movies are scheduled for Thursday evenings.

Basic Theory for Game Studies

1. Games, Nature and Culture
2. The Structure of a Game
3. Game Taxonomy
4. Evolutions and Revolutions
5. Society at Play

Making Rules

1. Writing Good Rules
2. Implementing Rules Electronically
3. Layers of Abstraction
4. Keeping Score
5. Evaluating User Satisfaction

Advanced Theory

1. Evaluating Gameplay and its Effects beyond the Magic Circle
2. Structural Analysis and Asset Analysis
3. Developing Experimental Games
4. In-Progress Peer Reviews
5. Dissemination and Publication