Special Topics: Transformational Game Design Studio

Course Information

Course Number

HCI Undergraduate: 05-499
HCI Graduate: 05-899

Course Description

Are you interested in making games that change how players think, feel, and behave? This class will give you the chance to get hands-on with transformational games for real-world clients who have real-world problems. If you want to spend your semester making awesome games and understanding how players experience them, then this is the class for you. 

Important notes:

- No prior knowledge of game design is required for this class. It will help if you have at some point in your life played at least one game.

- Except for the introductory assignments, all projects for this class are group projects. However, the assignments are designed so that you can split up the work to some extent. I encourage teams to find the right strategy for them.

- The games you’ll make are primarily non-digital. While you can use simple technology, like having players snap photographs on their phones, programming is out of bounds. If you are looking for a technical class, you should look elsewhere.

- We’ll be spending as much class time as possible working with the games you make. To get the most out of this class, you should be ready to do substantial independent reading and playing.

- We are partnered with three real-world organizations that have problems they would like to address through games. You should be prepared to communicate professionally with members of these organizations, whether during class time or outside it. If your professional communication skills are weak, consider this a chance to practice and learn!

Syllabus

https://hcii.cmu.edu/sites/default/files/attachments/tgdsyllabus.pdf

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