SYLLABUS: Video Game Design and Balance
COURSE DESCRIPTION
In this course, you’ll enter the mind of a professional game designer. You’ll learn how to design different types of games, understand the commonalities between them and learn what is at the core of every game design, including game balance and why it is key to game design.
What you'll learn
- Formal elements of games like goals and mechanics
- How designers determine the appropriate audience and player group for a game
- What makes different game genres different
- How game designers balance games
PREREQUISITES
There are no required courses to complete before this course. This course has no prerequisites.
Meet the Instructor
GRADING & CERTIFICATION
If you are interested in earning a verified certificate, you'll need to complete the graded boss battle quiz at the end of each week. You only have one attempt per quiz question, so review each question carefully before saving your answer. Verified students who complete the boss battle quizzes with a cumulative 75% or higher average will earn a verified certificate from edX, signifying successful completion of the course. There is no weekly deadline for each unit's quiz. As long as you complete all the quizzes by the course end date you will be eligible for the certificate.
This might be a good option for you if you plan to use your completion of GAME101x for job applications, career advancement, or school applications. Also, by earning a verified certificate of this course and of GAME102x, GAME103x, GAME104x, and GAME105x, you may apply for a certificate of the XSeries in Video Game Design.
WORKLOAD
We've designed this course to be completed over five weeks. Each week requires about three hours of work. You can enroll and complete the course at any time prior to July 3, 2017. The deadline to apply for verified status is June 30, 2017.
ACADEMIC POLICY
You must behave with academic honesty and respect your fellow students. Please abide by the edX Terms of Service & Honor Code.
COURSE MATERIALS & ACTIVITIES
The course is structured into five weekly sections. Each section contains:
- Topic Introduction
- External Resources (articles, presentations, etc.)
- Lecture Video
- Knowledge Checks
- Weekly Summary
- Discussion
- Graded Quiz
HOW TO GET THE MOST OUT OF THIS COURSE
To understand Video Game Design and Balance, a student needs to read about, and ideally design and play, games. In each unit of the course there will be one or more instances in which we may ask you to play physical or digital games and/or watch videos of gameplay.
Recognizing that this may not be possible for every student who wants to take the course; whether due to a physical impairment, issues of computer power or bandwidth, or in the case where an external link may have gone down, we have insured that there is also a text-based resource that can provide the intellectual information, if not the gameplay experience, required to achieve the goals of the course.
To help facilitate navigation within each unit, the course materials and activities are organized with the following headings:
ABOUT THIS VIDEO
Provides an introduction and summary of the topics covered in each video lecture.
Readings
Contains external links to resources such as further reading, videos, and works cited. These links open in a new window.
CHECK YOUR UNDERSTANDING (UNGRADED QUIZ)
Ungraded questions based on the content of each video lecture.
DISCUSSION
Opportunities to talk about the course with your classmates and participate in topic-related surveys. These activities are ungraded.
BOSS BATTLE (GRADED QUIZ)
Graded quizzes at the end of each unit that are required for verified certificates. These quizzes are open to all students.
Gameplay
Optional gameplay experiences that can enhance your understanding of the material. These links open in a new window.
DISCUSSION POLICY
Each weekly unit in this course will contain a Discussion Question which you are encouraged to participate in. Discussion Questions are posted in their own topics and are also accessible by clicking "Discussion" on the edX toolbar. It's perfectly fine to use the discussion questions as departure points for more elaborate conversations with your classmates. Course staff occasionally monitors posts; however, because we expect a large number of students and limited resources, we may not be able to answer all questions. We appreciate your understanding.
In addition to answering discussion questions and talking with classmates, you can also use the Discussion Forums to communicate on other topics in the "Questions About this Course" forum. To access this forum, click "Discussion" on the toolbar at the top of your screen. Add [Staff] at the beginning of a post to notify course staff about content-related or technical issues.
To see previous posts in any category, click 'All Topics' at the top left of the 'Discussion' screen, then choose the appropriate category. Check to see if someone already asked your question before creating a new post.
For more detailed instructions on how to use the edX discussion please refer to edX guide for students.