Media Studies 360
Intended for 40 undergraduate students
Spring 2025 at the University of Victoria
lək̓ʷəŋən and WSÁNEĆ territories
M and Th, 1 - 2:20pm | 1.5 units | prereq: AWR
Taught by Jentery Sayers (he / him) | jentery@uvic.ca
Office hours: M and Th, 12-1pm, in CLE D331
Worksheet 2 covers course material from January 27th (“RPGs”) through February 13th (“Sims”). Your response is due via Brightspace by Monday, February 24th, at 1pm.
The worksheet is open-book, meaning you are allowed to use the course website, the class notebook, your own notes, recordings of class sessions, the library, and the internet to address the prompts.
Please cite your source material.
Please download the worksheet (DOCX format) to complete it in a word processor such as Microsoft Word, Google Docs, OpenOffice, LibreOffice, or Pages for Mac.
This open-book worksheet contains three prompts, and I will mark it holistically rather than giving each response a separate mark.
Some prompts ask you to create media. Please attach your audio, image, or video files to your response in Brightspace. Do not use YouTube, SoundCloud, Vimeo, Google Drive, or any other non-Brightspace platform to submit files.
If you play a game with someone else or observe them playing (outside of Twitch, YouTube, or a similar public streaming or publishing platform), then please first acquire their written or recorded permission and include it as part of your submission.
Prompt 1. Select a game of your choice, play it for a bit, and use whichever media you prefer to document an interesting moment in the play session. Then use a spreadsheet or table to create a list of assets featured in that documentation. Your asset list should contain 1) at least 15 assets, 2) a name for each asset, and 3) a brief description of each asset’s function in the game. Once you’ve made your asset list, use no more than 400 words, including terminology from the class notebook, to explain how the assets work together to 1) create a world or experience, 2) establish the game’s affordances (what can be done), and 3) communicate the game’s parameters (what should be done). Don’t forget to embed or attach your asset list and documentation so I can access them.
Game assets include sound effects, visual effects, animations, music, voice tracks, buttons, icons, backgrounds, tiles, sprites, flavour text, character art, pixel art, illustrations, interface components, weapons, vehicles, dice, tokens, counters, coins, meeples, standees, figurines, and cards. I recommend perusing board game assets and general game assets on itch.io if you’re new to asset lists and need examples.
Prompt 2. Return to the game you played for Prompt 1, play it some more, and use whatever approach you prefer to document a particular feeling or visceral experience the game routinely prompts from you. Then use no more than 400 words, including terminology from the class notebook, to explain 1) that feeling or visceral experience, 2) how the game prompts you to rehearse it, 3) the game’s overall mood or vibe, 4) how that mood or vibe corresponds with the game’s mechanics, and 5) how the game’s approach to feeling and experience shapes your desire to play it again. Don’t forget to embed or attach your documentation.
Prompt 3. Return to that game one more time and use no more than 400 words, including terminology from the class notebook, to explain the role of “solutions” in it. Echoing Adam Millard, would you say it’s more of a puzzle game or problem game? Perhaps it isn’t interested in being either, or it wants to be both. Feel free to adopt capacious definitions of “puzzle” and “problem” here, but please address the following in your explanation: 1) the degree to which the game invites you to create or find “solutions,” 2) the role you (as a player or player character) perform in that process, 3) an experience or situation the game simulates as part of that process, and 4) what you learned about the game and its assets (see Prompt 1), experience design (see Prompt 2), and approach to puzzles and problems from this exercise. Feel free to embed or attach any documentation to demonstrate or support the points you wish to make.
Content warning for Millard’s video: at 11:37, he includes footage of an animated NPC who hangs herself. The scene lasts about three seconds and concludes by 11:41. It is not graphic or gruesome, but its inclusion is insensitive and could be triggering.
I will use the following rubric, based on UVic’s official grading system, to assess your responses.
1 point will be deducted for every 25 words over the prescribed word count.
10 points will be deducted from the overall mark if no references are included at the end of the worksheet (see “Citing Your Sources”).
5 points will be deducted from the overall mark if the references at the end of the worksheet are not formatted according to an established citation style (see “Citing Your Sources”).
Your mark for Worksheet 2 will constitute 20% of your final mark in this course.
You do not need to meet the word count in each response to earn a high mark.
I recommend using prose (paragraphs) rather than point form in your responses. Prose is more synthetic and will allow you to make connections.
Please do not forget to cite any material from which you draw ideas or examples. This includes games, videos, podcasts, and streams as well as academic publications such as monographs and journal articles. You are welcome to use your preferred citation style (MLA, Chicago, or APA, e.g.).
Please submit a DOCX, ODT, PAGES, or PDF file containing your answers and references along with any media files you were prompted to attach or embed.
A response to Worksheet 2 is due by 1pm on Monday, February 24th, but there is a grace period. I will deduct five points for every business day I receive Worksheet 2 after 1pm on Friday, February 28th. I will close the submission portal for Worksheet 2 at 1pm on Monday, March 10th, and cannot accept any submissions after the portal is closed. I do not accept any submissions by email.