Course Listings
GA501
Prototyping 1
Units:5
This course will cover critical skills necessary to construct agile and iterative prototypes for the purpose of establishing credibility in chief mechanical concepts and technological approaches. Students will learn to create thorough requirements listings, construct and dissect systems, write technical literature, build architectural and-case diagrams, build simple prototypes using visual and non-visual scripting methodologies, and industry standard deployment practices. Students will be exposed to the technical process by which qualities that are deemed desirable and “fun” are iteratively procured, refined, and eventually transformed into full production-scale endeavors.
GA605
Production Studio 1
Units:5
GA523
Production studio 1 will connect the candidate with the undergrad pipeline to recruit their team and begin the production cycle. Candidates will begin the process of applying knowledge from their classes in management and production to begin the prototyping and pitch phase of their thesis games.
GA507
Specialized Programming
Units:5
This studio course works concurrently with Prototyping (GA 501) to address the specific programming needs for the creation of a successful prototype for the initial stage of the final thesis project. To give the student a general overview of programming applications, we will begin in Unity with C#, and move on into UI functionality, logic loops in existing scenes, saving and loading custom data, and the creation of physics simulations. Having completed the mini projects, students will then load into their existing thesis project to enhance the functionality. Through the creation of a game in class and building out their thesis game at large, students will learn the basics of programming while gaining the knowledge of customization for their games.
GA509
Special Topics in Game Design
Units:3
This lecture course provides an open topic in the newest innovations in the field of game design.
GA655
Production Studio 2
Units:5
GA605
Final Production studio for completion and testing of game projects.
GA606
UI/UX Design
Units:3
In this course students will learn to balance what is on the screen so players feel empowered by information rather than burdened with it. Students will examine player interaction and learn techniques to create a better experience.
GA516
Player Centric Design
Units:3
In today’s rapidly changing and fragmented games market game creators need to be able to design games for people other than themselves. They need to develop a broad understanding of human behavior and player segmentation as it relates to gameplay, event, reward, flow and feature design. Most importantly, game designers must have the ability to develop and target the experience they are designing to a likely audience and know how to identify and test their assumptions.
LA608
Thesis 1
Units:5
Thesis Development is an in-depth focus on the masters of game design and their methodologies, techniques, and processes. Students will formulate a vocabulary and a dialog with which they will begin to create a supportive document for their thesis game. In Art of Game Design, students create an innovative and theoretically informed body of work that is exhibited in a manner and context that supports its creative content. Building upon the foundations established during GA508, students in Thesis Project Directed Study 1 will continue developing a written component that addresses the theoretical premise of their work alongside their business and marketing plans, as well as a thorough and polished game design document (GDD).
LA708
Thesis 2
Units:5
Thesis Directed Study is an in-depth focus on the masters of game design and their methodologies, techniques, and processes. In Thesis Directed Study 2, students will work with thesis advisors to narrow their projects’ scope and direct their game projects towards manageable scale with direction in special areas of interest that will enhance and drive their project towards a unique and creative solution. Building upon the working drafts crafted during GA608, students in Thesis Directed Study 2 will complete the formal written component of their thesis that addresses the theoretical premise of their work alongside their business and marketing plans, as well as a thorough and polished game design document (GDD).
GA518
Game Design
Units:3
This class is a hands-on comprehensive exploration of game design mechanics. It starts with a grounding in the game design fundamentals of flow, simplicity, and choice. It then expands into a full lexicon of game design mechanics such as motivation, mystery box, interest curve, Zeigarnik effect, convexity, loss aversion, habit loops, skinner boxes, and squares, circle, and triangles. Students will deconstruct existing games, reconstruct game designs, and then most importantly, iterate on the designs and processes to create new games. Together we explore the art, science, and practice of game design mechanics, creating a physical board game with cards and virtual mini games. We will continue until you are able to confidently say, ‘I am a game designer.’
GA607
Level Design
Units:3
GA518
The purpose of this course is to instruct students in the construction of game levels. Theoretical aspects of level design will be discussed at the beginning of each class. The class will discuss story methodologies, level aesthetics, and general issues of game play which make the difference between an entertaining level and a mediocre one. Students will review examples of both good and bad levels for class critique. In addition to the theoretical aspects of level design, students will also learn the practical aspects of level creation through the course projects.
LA508
Thesis Development
Units:3
Through an in-depth focus on the masters of game design and their methodologies, techniques and process, students begin to formulate a vocabulary and a dialog to create a supportive document for their thesis game. Students in Art of Game Design create an innovative and theoretically informed body of work that is exhibited in a manner and context that supports its creative content. In the thesis, students will produce a written component that addresses the theoretical premise of the work.
LA521
Management Psychology
Units:3
This course will be a survey and analysis into the various forms of how monetization is utilized within the game industry. Students can expect to learn how game developers implement monetization strategies surrounding crowd funding, in game advertising, Free to Play models, and more traditional publisher / developer business models. This course will be divided up into three sections. Firstly, a critical analysis of a wide range of successful monetization models in gaming such as Candy Crush, Guild Wars 2, Clash of Clans, etc. Secondly is creating a monetization plan for a game you are/will be creating planning out data tracking, marketing, pitch documents, etc., Thirdly a proof of concept of an approved plan in development using third party tools, marketing materials, or any form of media pertinent to student’s development project.
GA521
Survey of Monetization Practices
Units:3
This course will consist of the study and implementation of modern-day video game monetization practices across mobile, PC, and console platforms. Students will learn how top developers and publishers are implementing and executing successful monetization models in premium, games as a service, and F2P business models. This course will focus primarily on design-centric monetization best practices, but also cover topics such as crowd-funding, advertising, and more traditional publisher/developer business practices. This course will be divided up into 3 major pillars of Acquisition, Retention, and Monetization. Throughout the class, students will participate in critical analysis of a wide range of successful monetization models used in top-performing games such as Fortnite, Apex Legends, and World of Warcraft, then learn how to work these same monetization practices into their own thesis projects in a way that best suits the game design in an organic and non-intrusive way.
GA523
Game Production
Units:3
This course will expose students to a wide range of processes and methodologies by which game development studios operate in a Production Capacity. Students will study different game production methodologies by implementing and using these methodologies directly in their projects both real and fictional. Students will be expected to use modern software to create task lists, risk management analysis, user stories, create and execute sprints, create and understand budgets as well as forecasts and reports. Students will be participating in honing both the hard and soft skills of Game Production.
LA602
Experimental Game Design
Units:3
This course is a masters level portrait class. The creation of engaging portraits will be explored. Our models will be diverse, presenting unfamiliar challenges. Technical options will be covered. Creative approaches will be encouraged. Human geographic adaptation, and how it influences appearance will be discussed.