Final Reflection Essay

Before I came into this class, I already knew I enjoyed making games. I’ve always thoroughly enjoyed games of all kinds and was incredibly exited to take this class. Growing up, I fell into the usual “I want to make video games!” a lot of kids do, but I had never really considered going into game design as a serious possibility until a year and a half ago.

Two summers ago, while I was doing CS research on campus, there was a lunch talk I attended from a PhD candidate at some university (I think Carnegie Melon). Her presentation was about a game she had made to teach schoolchildren how to ask questions, and she talked about its overlap with HCI. I left that talk invigorated and wanting to do more in the field. I didn’t get the opportunity until this class.

When I entered this class, I knew I wanted to make games, but had no idea how to do them, really. I was completely unfamiliar with the game design frameworks, and had only done prototyping and iteration in CS147.

During the class, I learned so much by actually getting to opportunity to make games. I’ve wanted to make games such as these for a long time, but never knew how to approach it, nor the time and energy to put it into action. Particularly helpful for me ended up being one of the first things we learned: the MDA(O) framework(s). Being able to break down the process into concrete goals and work through them helped me so much, as previously I just approached it from a very broad, unfocused angle.

Again, getting to go through the design process several times helped immensely.

Also particularly helpful were the open studios. I really enjoyed the structure of the class. Unlike most courses, I never felt bored or like the class was dragging on. There were plenty of times where I wished the course was longer, and I think much of this can be pinned down to the course structure and the particular lecturing style.

Ironically, despite the extremely high quality of the course, I don’t feel like I learned a lot. This isn’t a bad thing, in fact it’s exactly what I needed.

Most of what I learned can be broken down into a few things:

• Formal frameworks and elements (MDA, etc.)
• Non-game things like better sketch-noting
• Tools and strategies for prototyping games

Instead of learning a ton of things, I got better at things I already knew. For example: the design process involving rapid prototyping and iteration. I was already familiar with user testing and prototyping, I didn’t learn these things. But I did get much, much better at them and particularly at applying them to games. My experience with the course wasn’t so much one of learning, but definitely of education and improvement.

I say that this is exactly what I needed, because now I feel like I actually can make games. I didn’t learn any magical key that unlocked the world of game development, or some secret knowledge passed down through elders, but I did learn tools that help with creating games and gained extremely valuable experience in the process.

Making games feels way less daunting now. If all I got out of the class was memorization of frameworks and definitions, I’d still be utterly hopeless when I approached making a game. But now, I feel equipped and ready to make more.

• When I go to make games in the future, I will…

Another things I found particularly valuable about this class: the “seriousness.” This was, of course, designing serious games, after all. When I go to make games in the future, I will not only approach them with more design skills but will give them the critical thought they deserve. I firsthand know the power of games as an affective medium, and games have helped me greatly in exploring my identity. Now, when I approach them, I will know how to do so with a critical mind and to make them increasingly affective and effective.

A major component of this is, of course, the MDAO framework. I keep touching back on this as something that stands out to me, and that’s because it is. Instead of approaching a game by writing a list of rules, I can lay out goals that I want to achieve with it. I feel like now I can make games that aren’t just fun, but also meaningful.

Looking more broadly, this class has had a profound impact on me. Put shortly, it has been a major component of an ongoing shift in my career priorities toward game design. Like I’ve stated previously, I knew I wanted to make games but this class made know I wanted to make games as more than a hobby. Games have had a profound impact on my life, and this class has made me realize that I wanted to go further with this passion and has equipped me to do so much more than I was previously.