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 2018.

Basic Info

The most important document for this class is the syllabus. It contains useful information, including the course schedule.

Class Sessions: Mondays and Wednesdays 10:30am - 11:50am, ASH 221
Game Gatherings: Fridays 10:30am - 1pm
Professor: Ira Fay, (413) 559-6844, ASH 216, ifay@hampshire.edu
Office Hours: A sign up sheet is available digitally.
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

Weekly Gameplay Project and Sign Up Sheet for Games With Ira and BGG Class Summary Page

Design a Game Project and Presentation File for Part 1 and Final Presentation slides

Star Wars: Destiny Project and Star Wars: Destiny Card Design Presentation

D&D Miniatures Project

DDM Part 2:
A1_200-5_Dwarves
B1_200-5_Azurion_Wizards
A2_200-5_Clawborn_Scorrow_Deep_Dragon
B2_200-5_Devils
A3_200-5_Giants
B3_200-5_Lord_of_Blades_Shardsoul
A4_200-5_Pseudodragon
B4_200-5_Aspect_of_Nerull
A5_200-5_Stormrage_Skullcleave
B5_200-5_Trihorn_Eye_of_Frost
A6_200-5_Vampire_Wolves
B6_200-5_Cadaver_Collector
A7_200-5_GreenDragonRaider_Hemlock
B7_200-5_Orcs

Team 1
Team 2
Team 3
Team 4
Team 5
Team 6
Team 7

DDM Part 4 shared presentation file

DDM Final shared presentation file (include design comments as your slide notes)

Upcoming Milestones

Please see the bottom of the syllabus to see all upcoming milestones, and read the project documents above for details.

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

Final Survey
Star Wars: Destiny Feedback
Star Wars: Destiny Rules
Week 4 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 26 at 5:30pm
The event is open to everyone, but space is filling up fast.

Game Gatherings
Play and analyze board and card games. You are required to play at least one new game each week. The Friday lab time from 10:30am - 1pm in ASH 221 should facilitate that. Feel free to bring additional friends to play games with you, if desired.

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 student group focused on facilitating game development among students in the Five College area. They are an amazing resource, and anyone interested in game development should check them out. You can pitch your own ideas and/or contribute to other games.

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.