The Joys of Game Design
You're unlikely to ever make money from game design, but there's a lot to enjoy.
My favorite game is the game of designing games. You're unlikely to ever make money from game design, but there's a lot to enjoy. This class discusses that side of design as a briefer companion to my "Brief Introduction to Game Design," which discusses the difficulties of making money, let alone making a living. Some of the "lectures" here are from the Brief Introduction.
Your Instructor
Dr. Lewis Pulsipher (Wikipedia: "Lewis Pulsipher"; "Britannia (board game)"; "Archomental" ) is the designer of half a dozen commercially published boardgames. His game "Britannia" is described in an Armchair General review "as one of the great titles in the world of games." Britannia was also one of the 100 games highlighted in the book "Hobby Games: the 100 Best". He has over 17,000 classroom hours of teaching experience including teaching video game design and production, and over 20 years of part-time graduate teaching experience.
His book "Game Design: How to Create Video and Tabletop Games, Start to Finish" (McFarland) focuses on practical advice for beginning game designers, about how you actually create and complete game designs. Three more books about game design are in progress. He also contributed to the books "Tabletop: Analog Game Design," "Hobby Games: the 100 Best," "Family Games: the 100 Best." His game design blog has been active since 2004, and he is a contributor and "expert blogger" on Gamasutra.com, the #1 site for professional video game developers.
His latest published game is the 2011 reissue with additions of "Dragon Rage," originally published in 1982. Three new versions of Britannia, including a 90-120 minute version and a diceless version, are forthcoming
Lew has a Ph.D. in military and diplomatic history from Duke University, from ancient days when degrees in media, computer networking, or game design did not exist--nor did IBM PCs. In 2012 he was a speaker at the East Coast Game Conference, PrezCon, Origins Game Fair, and World Boardgaming Championships. Long ago he was contributing editor for White Dwarf and Dragon magazines, and publisher of various game fanzines.
Website: http://pulsiphergames.com
Game design blog: http://pulsiphergamedesign.blogspot.com/ and http://boardgamegeek.com/blog/435/pulsipher-game-design
Teach game design blog: http://teachgamedesign.blogspot.com
"Expert blogger", Gamasutra: http://gamasutra.com/blogs/LewisPulsipher/774/
former contributing editor, White Dwarf, Dragon, Space Gamer, etc.
former publisher, Supernova, Blood and Iron, Sweep of History, etc.
"Always do right--this will gratify some and astonish the rest." --Mark Twain
Course Curriculum
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PreviewMy favorite game is the game of designing games (1:01)
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StartThe joys of game design (no, Not Money) (9:33)
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StartHow do I know this stuff? (2:17)
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StartLet's start to design a game the quick way (13:05)
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StartWhat game design is, and what it is not (9:56)
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StartPure Game Design as a Hobby (5:43)
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StartWhat a prototype tabletop game might look like (8:01)
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StartYou're most unlikely to get rich (try a lottery instead) (8:58)
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Start"Awareness" Exercise (3:38)
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StartThe quickest way to start learning (8:02)
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StartOne page "what's important in game design"
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PreviewAll I needed to know (about game design) I learned from Dungeons & Dragons (Part 1) (8:39)
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PreviewAll I needed to know (about game design) I learned from Dungeons & Dragons (Part 1) (8:11)
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StartMaxims of Game Design
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StartWhat to do next (3:44)