Video: Extra Credits: What is a Game?
Handout: Game Design Activity (PDF)
Some of the “best” games ever are the simplest ones. Tetris is often pointed to as one of the greatest video games ever created and, at it’s core, it’s about seven different kinds of shapes being set on top of each other to make straight lines.
Modern video games are often caught up in “feature creep,” where a committee decides that a game must have a main campaign, PvP, DLC, etc. in order to be worth the price of investment.
One of the best ways to develop your skills as a game designer is to limit yourself to just a few elements and to try to come up with different ways to make a game. And before we do that in the digital space, we are going to do that in the physical space!
The Game Design Activity will give you a chance to work with others to make a game of your own design out of common household and game objects. Will it be fun? Will it be challenging? Will it be the next Tetris? Let’s find out!