Analog Game Design, CS 297

This is the official course website for Analog Game Design, CS 297, taught by Ira Fay at Hampshire College in Spring 2020.

Basic Info

The most important documents for this class are the syllabus and the schedule. They contain useful information, so please read them!

Class Sessions: Mondays and Wednesdays 1pm - 2:20pm, FPH 103
Labs: Fridays 1pm - 3:50pm
Professor: Ira Fay, (413) 559-6844, ASH 216, ifay@hampshire.edu
Office Hours: A sign up sheet is available digitally.
TAs: Alex McGrath, Doug Levey, Luke Townsend, Matt Regan, Sam Fioretti
Course Slack Channel: Hampshire Game Dev (sign up here, then click "Channels" on the left nav and choose #cs297)
Strongly Recommended Text: Kobold Guide to Board Game Design, by Richard Garfield, Steve Jackson, et al.

Projects

Design a Game Project and Presentation File for Part 1 and Example Slides for Part 1.

KeyForge Project

Small Assignment 1: Game Decision Matrix

Small Assignment 2: Expansion Rules

Sign Up Sheet for Games With Ira

IP Policy

All work in this course will be governed by Hampshire's Intellectual Property (IP) Policy. Please ask Ira ASAP if you have any questions.

Useful Links

Game making supplies

How to setup your own Hampshire website

DDM Web Tools

Card Maker resources (thanks to JKQ for the link)

Slides from a previous game design class:
Programming for Game Designers
Programming for Game Designers, Part 2
Programming for Game Designers, Part 3
Programming for Game Designers, Part 4
Slides from Class 1, which provide an overview of the course.
Slides on Writing Game Rules
Slides on Playtesting

Previous Survey Links

KeyForge Final Survey
KeyForge Judge Test
Week 4 survey
Section survey
Welcome survey

Bonus Info

Email Lists
If you want to know about Game Development at Hampshire and in the Five Colleges, join the Game Development email list. You may also want to join the Game Jobs email list. In fact, you might just want to browse all the lists at Hampshire and find lists that appeal to you. Ensure you're also on the HampshireGameDev Slack for this class.

Global Game Jam
Make a game in 48 hours! Free food!
Friday, January 31 at 5pm
The event is open to everyone and should be lots of fun and good experience!

Game Gatherings
Play and analyze board and card games. Contact Ira, Matt, or your TA to organize a time to play games!

Game Library
We are fortunate that the Hampshire library has an ever-growing collection of board games and digital games. Students, staff, and faculty members have access to this great resource. Please make use of it, and feel free to give feedback to Ira on your experience.

GlowLime Games
GlowLime Games is a now-defunct student group that focused on facilitating game development among students in the Five College area. If you are interested in restarting this club, please contact Ira!

Pioneer Valley Game Developers (PVGD)
The Pioneer Valley Game Developers (PVGD) meetup group is another great resource and community for game developers in the area.

The Quarters
The Quarters is an incredible arcade + restaurant. They have my full support, and their food is excellent and reasonably priced. If anyone beats my high score on Arkanoid, please let me know.

Word Snack and Project IONA
These are two digital games made by Hampshire students, staff, faculty, and Five College members. Each game was made in a semester as part of the Interdisciplinary Game Studio course. Try them out!

Game Stores
For some projects or just general fun, it may be useful for you to be aware of nearby boardgame stores.