Game Design Essentials

This course offers a comprehensive framework to understand and practice game design.

At the end of this course, you will have the tools and thinking process to understand why some games are fun and keep players playing for a long time, while others fail.

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN...

• Understand the role of the game designer and other roles in game development

• How to keep improving as a game designer and what skills you need

• What are game parts, mechanics and dynamics and understand the language of games

• Harness the power of Design Thinking to better Empathize, Ideate and Prototype your games.

• Use Psychology to understand your players and how they perceive your game

• What is a GDD

• What is a game pitch

• How to communicate your game idea to your team

• How math and probability work in board and video games

• Create game models using Google Spreadsheets to test your game early

• Use random, procedural generation and systems thinking to create systemic gameplay to design games that are interesting to play and watch.

• Analyze real and game systems to create meaningful games by relating players to their surroundings and experiences

HOW WILL YOU PRACTICE WHAT YOU HAVE LEARNED

• You will create a card game from a humble beginning all the way to a unique and engaging game.

• Each activity is designed to practice what you have just learned.

• The card game will be uniquely modified by you, so you can keep working on it even after the course ends.

What is NOT included in this course...

• Programming languages

• Art asset creation