The game is unique as the only broadly–successful interactive art form. Games communicate the experience of embodying a role by manipulating the player’s own decisions, abstraction, and discrete planning. Those three elements are the essence of computation, which makes computer science theory integral to game design. Video games also co–opt programming and computer graphics as new tools for the modern artist. As a result, games are collaborative interdisciplinary constructs that use computation as a medium for creative expression. Students analyze and extend contemporary video and board games using the methodology of science and the language of the arts. They explore how computational concepts like recursion, state, and complexity apply to interactive experiences. They then synthesize new game elements using mathematics, programming and both digital and traditional art tools. Emphasis is on the theory of design in modern European board games. Topics covered include experiment design, gameplay balance, minimax, color theory, pathfinding, game theory, composition, and computability.
Format: Lecture and studio. Lab fee will be added to the term bill. Requirements are participation, studio work, and quizzes.
Prerequisites: None. Not open to students who completed a CSCI course numbered 136 or above; this course does not count toward the Art Major.
Course webpage: Click here
Taught by: McGuire
Scheduled offerings:
Spring 2017
107-01 (LEC) TR 8:30-9:45
107-2 (LAB) R 1:00-4:00
Past offerings:
Spring 2015
107-01 (LEC) TR 8:30-9:45
107-02 (LAB) R 1:00-4:00
Spring 2013
107-01 (LEC) TR 8:30-9:45
107-02 (LAB) R 1:00-4:00