Game Design and Theory

Game Design and Theory is an introduction and exploration of not only board games but tabletop games of all types and the role these games play in our lives. This course will analyze game fundamentals, everything from dexterity to worker placement to abstract mechanisms. We will examine the player experience with respect to choices and options on each turn, looking at how games abstract larger concepts, allowing players to experience situations never available to them in their everyday lives. We will move from modern classics like Catan and Carcassonne to tabletop RPGs like Dungeons and Dragons as we explore gaming possibilities. The course will discuss game theory in terms of design approach, interaction of art and function, system probability, and cost-benefit analysis. The class will be playing games often, learning how different systems interact both on the game board but also around the table, as social interaction plays a large part in many tabletop games. The culminating project will be designing our own boardgames using the systems we’ve explored in class.