ASSIGNMENTS
What we call a videogame is not a product. It's the creation of an author and her accomplice, the player; it is handmade by the former and personally distributed to the latter. The videogame is a zine. -- Anna Anthropy, Rise of the Videogame Zinesters
Schedule | Description | Objectives | Assignments | Assessment | Policies | Contact
Game Manual (3 marks, each 20% of your final grade)
Throughout the semester, you will contribute to a game manual, which will correspond with the game prototype you are iteratively developing. The manual requires weekly entries (except reading break), routinely prompting you to build the prototype instead of waiting until the last minute. While, during the first half of the semester, it should consist of thought pieces, sketches, and other preliminary work, by the semester's end it should be an off-screen guide to how your game was made, how to play it, and how it's culturally embedded. The manual will be assessed three times, with each mark comprising 20% of your final grade. Although the final instantiation of the manual must be an off-screen guide (e.g., printed or analog), the first two instantiations can be screen-based or off-screen (print, handmade, or digital). Your choice. All prompts for the manual are included in the course schedule. Please think of the manual as a way to represent how this became that, or how to persuasively account for the process of building a game prototype. I expect the first two instantiations (especially the first) to be quite "drafty." The point is to inscribe and share your ideas and then refine them for the final mark (i.e., mark three). All that said, I do ask that you keep your contributions concise. Articulate your ideas as concretely and cogently as possible, with thorough evidence (e.g., sketches, screengrabs, observations about other indie games, and references to game studies research). You will receive the first mark for your manual during the middle of the semester, your second mark near the semester's end, and your final mark during or after the exam period.
Final Presentation (1 mark, 10% of your final grade)
At the semester's end, you will present your indie game prototype to the class, using a slidedeck that draws upon your prototype as evidence for an argument about culture. At this time, you will also give others in the course (including me) an opportunity to play the prototype, meaning you will need to demo it. During the second half of the semester, I will circulate a prompt for this presentation, with more specific instructions and my rubric for assessment. In the meantime, please note that the presentation + demo comprises 10% of your final grade.
Final Prototype (1 mark, 30% of your final grade)
At the semester’s end, you will submit a prototype for an indie game. While your game will not be complete, the prototype must be playable. As I mark it, I will also play it. The prototype must (if only in part) be computational. In other words, it must include a videogame (or a digital game), but it can also include other media (e.g., analog, tabletop, board, or site-specific game). The prototype comprises 30% of your final grade. During the second half of the semester, I will circulate a prompt for the prototype, with more specific instructions and my rubric for assessment.