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Understanding Games

Design

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Understanding Games, available at Free, has an average rating of 3.58, with 109 lectures, based on 6 reviews, and has 1512 subscribers.

You will learn about Identify the common features of video games and board games Explain the main differences between video games and board games Complete a board game prototype Analyze games in depth This course is ideal for individuals who are Beginner It is particularly useful for Beginner.

Enroll now: Understanding Games

Summary

Title: Understanding Games

Price: Free

Average Rating: 3.58

Number of Lectures: 109

Number of Published Lectures: 109

Number of Curriculum Items: 109

Number of Published Curriculum Objects: 109

Original Price: Free

Quality Status: approved

Status: Live

What You Will Learn

  • Identify the common features of video games and board games
  • Explain the main differences between video games and board games
  • Complete a board game prototype
  • Analyze games in depth

Who Should Attend

  • Beginner

Target Audiences

  • Beginner

This course presents a complete toolkit of ideas for understanding and making games. It is based on my university course, Introduction to Game Studies: Theory and Design, which is a course designed as a general elective that anyone in the university can take. As such, the course is entirely non-technical, and so doesn’t teach a game engine like Unity or Unreal. All of the topics covered in the course, however, can be practically applied to making games.

A unique feature of this course is that it is designed to be equally useful whether you are interested in making board games or video games. This course covers a complete toolkit of ideas for understanding and making games.  As such, the course is entirely non-technical, and so doesn’t teach a game engine like Unity or Unreal. All of the topics covered in the course, however, can be practically applied to making games, whether it’s a digital video game or an analog board game.

The first half of the course is actually focused on game theories and examples based more on board games, because obviously analog games have been around for thousands of years prior to the development of digital games. So, to lay the foundations for game design principles, we cover a lot of the main ground of game design theory by relating to examples of board games which are much easier to prototype and perhaps even more familiar to many compared to computer-based games.

The course is divided into four thematic sections, which build on each other:

  • The General Principles of Game Design

  • Storyworlds, Game Worlds & Interfaces

  • Agency, and

  • Systems

The course content is also structured to support a challenge project to design a prototype board game, to solidify  the learning.

Course Curriculum

Chapter 1: Course Intro

Lecture 1: My Other Free Courses on Udemy

Lecture 2: About the Instructor

Lecture 3: Welcome Message (same as landing page intro video)

Lecture 4: Course Introduction

Lecture 5: About the Courseware

Chapter 2: Principles of Game Design Part 1

Lecture 1: Boardgame Challenge

Lecture 2: What is a Game?

Lecture 3: Rules & Mechanics

Lecture 4: Ideation, Brainstorming & Innovation

Lecture 5: Video Summary #1

Lecture 6: Video Summary Transcript

Lecture 7: Online Readings & Resources

Chapter 3: Principles of Game Design Part 2

Lecture 1: Audiences, Game Titles & Player Types

Lecture 2: Prototyping, Playtesting, Iteration & Fun

Lecture 3: Affordances, Game Dynamics, Gameplay & Core Loops

Lecture 4: Eurogames vs Amerigames

Lecture 5: Video Summary #2

Lecture 6: Video Summary Transcript

Lecture 7: Online Readings & Resources

Chapter 4: Principles of Game Design Part 3

Lecture 1: Pillars, Goals, Features & Elements

Lecture 2: Game State, Information & Movement

Lecture 3: Narrative Elements

Lecture 4: Google Images vs Generative AI for Board Game Visual Design Research

Lecture 5: Video Summary #3

Lecture 6: Video Summary Transcript

Lecture 7: Online Readings & Resources

Chapter 5: Principles of Game Design Part 4

Lecture 1: Chance, Probability & Fairness

Lecture 2: Skill & Decision Making

Lecture 3: Trade-Offs, Dilemmas, Sacrifices, Risk & Reward

Lecture 4: Strategy, Tactics & Feedback

Lecture 5: Actions, Events, Choices, Time & Turn Taking

Lecture 6: Winning & Losing

Lecture 7: Video Summary #4

Lecture 8: Video Summary Transcript

Chapter 6: Principles of Game Design Part 5

Lecture 1: Balance & Tuning

Lecture 2: Difficulty & Mastery

Lecture 3: Economies

Lecture 4: Game Documentation

Lecture 5: Video Summary #5

Lecture 6: Video Summary Transcript

Lecture 7: Online Readings & Resources

Chapter 7: Visual Design in Prototyping Board Games

Lecture 1: Google Images vs Generative AI for Board Game Visual Design Research

Lecture 2: Visual Hierarchy

Lecture 3: Typography and Font

Lecture 4: Gestalt Principles

Lecture 5: Color Theory

Chapter 8: Storyworlds, Game Worlds and Interfaces Part 1

Lecture 1: Game Worlds, Dimensionality & Time

Lecture 2: Environment, Culture & Emotion

Lecture 3: Ethics, Morality, Violence & Realism

Lecture 4: Video Summary #6

Lecture 5: Video Summary Transcript

Chapter 9: Storyworlds, Game Worlds and Interfaces Part 2

Lecture 1: Game Genres & Tropes

Lecture 2: Post-Genre, Anti-Genre & Art Games

Lecture 3: The Magic Circle

Lecture 4: Rogers on Storywriting

Lecture 5: Mapping & Wayfinding

Lecture 6: Video Summary #7

Lecture 7: Video Summary Transcript

Lecture 8: Online Readings & Resources

Chapter 10: Storyworlds, Game Worlds and Interfaces Part 3

Lecture 1: Levels

Lecture 2: Layouts

Lecture 3: Atmosphere & Progression

Lecture 4: Sound Design

Lecture 5: Video Summary #8

Lecture 6: Video Summary Transcript

Lecture 7: Online Readings & Resources

Chapter 11: Agency

Lecture 1: Agency

Lecture 2: Demographics by Age & Sex

Lecture 3: Gamer Dedication

Lecture 4: Games & Current Events

Lecture 5: Video Summary #9

Lecture 6: Video Summary Transcript

Chapter 12: Systems Part 1

Lecture 1: History of Video Games

Lecture 2: Common Digital Gaming Platforms

Lecture 3: Systems Concepts

Lecture 4: Video Summary #10

Lecture 5: Video Summary Transcript

Lecture 6: Online Readings & Resources

Chapter 13: Systems Part 2

Lecture 1: Flowcharting, Algorithms & Pseudocode

Lecture 2: Logic Gates in Video Games

Lecture 3: Overview of Video Game Systems

Lecture 4: Video Summary #11

Lecture 5: Video Summary Transcript

Chapter 14: Systems Part 3

Lecture 1: Core vs Non-Core Mechanics

Lecture 2: Core Mechanic Systems

Lecture 3: Non-Core Mechanic Systems: Economies

Instructors

Rating Distribution

  • 1 stars: 1 votes
  • 2 stars: 1 votes
  • 3 stars: 0 votes
  • 4 stars: 3 votes
  • 5 stars: 1 votes

Frequently Asked Questions


How long do I have access to the course materials?


You can view and review the lecture materials indefinitely, like an on-demand channel.


Can I take my courses with me wherever I go?


Definitely! If you have an internet connection, courses on Udemy are available on any device at any time. If you don’t have an internet connection, some instructors also let their students download course lectures. That’s up to the instructor though, so make sure you get on their good side!

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