Eleven programmers seven artists and five kilograms of Play-Doh: games for teaching game design

ABSTRACT

Aristotle once wrote: The things we learn to do, we learn by doing. This is the motto of the Game Design Workshop subject I run at the University of New South Wales. The class brings together artists and programmers to learn about designing games. To do this, we play games. Then we reflect on why they work. Then we change the rules and play some more. Reflecting on this experience helps us to learn the principles behind designing good games.

In this paper I share some of the games we have played. I have deliberately chosen these games to illustrate key elements of game design, while also being fun to play, and easy to change. My experience shows that they provide an effective way to teach concepts which students can transfer to the analysis and design of more complex games.

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