Course Syllabus

EAE 6015-001 - Paper Prototyping

 

Instructor: Matt Anderson, MFA

University of Utah

Spring 2019, T / 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM BLDG 72 112

Email: matthewladdanderson@gmail.com

Office Hours: By appointment only

 

Course Description

The paper prototyping course provides an academic, rigorous, design-oriented experience focused on developing and evaluating game mechanics using analog materials. Drawing from videogame and tabletop game traditions, students will learn to "find the fun" in resource systems, spatial layouts, social dynamics, user interfaces, and more using low cost components and rapid iteration.

 

Course Objectives

Through readings, lectures, discussion and laboratory work, at the end of the course students will have a well founded, broad understanding of paper prototyping video games as well as a strong understanding of how fun and game mechanics can be expressed through physical media.

 

Recommended Texts

Tabletop Analog Game Design, Greg Costikyan and Drew Davidson

Characteristics of Games, George Skaff Elias, Richard Garfield, and K. Robert Gutschera 

Game Design Workshop Chapter 7: Prototyping, Tracey Fullerton

Additional articles assigned by the instructor. 

A game design tool kit. I recommend you reserve between $50 and $100 for this kit.

 

Teaching and Learning Methods

Students are expected to fully participate in the class. Attendance at lectures, participation in discussion, as well as completion of all assignments is expected and required for satisfactory completion of the course. I also reserve the right  to use a plagiarism detection service in this course, in which case you will be required to submit your paper to such a service as part of your assignment.

 

Attendance

As many of the in-class activities are core content for the assignments, attendance will be crucial to succeeding in this course. Students who participate in officially sanctioned University activities (e.g., marching band, debate, athletics) will be permitted to turn work in early and/or make up assignments without penalty. Official absences must be documented at least one week prior to the absence.

 

ADA Statement
The University of Utah seeks to provide equal access to its programs, services and activities for people with disabilities. If you will need accommodations in the class, reasonable prior notice needs to be given to the Center for Disability Services, 162 Olpin Union Building, 581-5020 (V/TDD). CDS will work with you and the instructor to make arrangements for accommodations. All information in this course can be made available in alternative format with prior notification to the Center for Disability Services.

 

Wellness Statement
Personal concerns such as stress, anxiety, relationship difficulties, depression, cross-cultural differences, etc., can interfere with a student’s ability to succeed and thrive at the University of Utah. For helpful resources contact the Center for Student Wellness; www.wellness.utah.edu; 801-581-7776.

 

Addressing Sexual Misconduct

Title IX makes it clear that violence and harassment based on sex and gender (which includes sexual orientation and gender identity/expression) is a Civil Rights offense subject to the same kinds of accountability and the same kinds of support applied to offenses against other protected categories such as race, national origin, color, religion, age, status as a person with a disability, veteran¹s status or genetic information. If you or someone you know has been harassed or assaulted on the basis of your sex, including sexual orientation or gender identity/expression, you are encouraged to report it to the University’s Title IX Coordinator; Director, Office of Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action, 135 Park Building, 801-581-8365, or to the Office of the Dean of Students, 270 Union Building, 801-581-7066.  For support and confidential consultation, contact the Center for Student Wellness, 426 SSB, 801-581-7776.  To report to police, contact the Department of Public Safety, 801-585-2677(COPS). Additional information regarding reporting and victim supportive resources are available at the offices listed above.

 

University of Utah Student Code

Students in the EAE program are bound by the University of Utah’s Academic Misconduct Policy which is outlined in the Code of Student Rights & Responsibilities (available here: https://regulations.utah.edu/academics/6-400.php). As defined in this code, academic misconduct includes, but is not limited to, cheating, misrepresenting one's work, inappropriately collaborating, plagiarism, and fabrication or falsification of information. It also includes facilitating academic misconduct by intentionally helping or attempting to help another student to commit an act of academic misconduct. A primary example of academic misconduct would be submitting as one's own, work that is copied from an outside source.

Students who are found to have participated in academic misconduct in a class will be sanctioned with a failing grade for the the course. Students who are sanctioned a second time will not be allowed to take further EAE courses at the University of Utah. Further, students who are in the degree program will removed from the program.

 

Accommodation
I do not offer content accommodations. If you find any of the course material offensive, you may opt not to participate acknowledging that you will not receive points for that section of the course.

 

Game Project

For this project you will design a non-digital game. The game should be playable inside the classroom and not take more than 60 minutes. Ideally, people should be able to play your game while sitting down at a table, and you will use your game design tool kits to assemble the game. You may design your own components or use “non-traditional” elements with approval.

This project will have six deliverables.  We will also be playtesting each other’s games in class. The main phases/deliverables are:

 

1.       High-level Game Concept

2.       Rules Draft #1

3.       Playtest Report

4.       Hand-Off Evaluation

5.       Rules Draft #2

6.       Final Rules and Components

 

Copyright

Work produced in this class is copyrighted by the student. Continued attendance to this course constitutes permission for your work to be used by the professor as examples in courses, public lectures, academic publications, and other not-for-profit, fair-use practices.

 

Evaluation

* Class Participation and Attendance: 15%
* Class Activities: 15%
* Homework and Project Deliverables: 40%
* Final Game Project: 30%

 

Grade Scale

* The A range is for excellent performance and superior achievement.
* The B range denotes good performance and substantial achievement.
* The C range indicates standard or average performance and achievement.
* The D range is for substandard performance and marginal achievement.
* An E is given for unsatisfactory performance and achievement.

I grade on a standard system: A=94-100; A-=90-93, B+=87-89, B=84-86, B-=80-83 etc.

Late work will be accepted with permission only. There is a 10% reduction to the grade every 24hrs after the original due date/time.

 

Course Schedule and Content: 

**Note: The syllabus is not a binding legal contract and will likely change with appropriate notice. You are responsible to get those changes from this syllabus, your peers, or via class announcements. 

 

Course Calendar

 

Week 1

• Syllabus and Overview

• Practicality and Procedures

• Writing Rules

 

Week 2

• Probabilities Part One

• Risk and Distribution

 

Week 3

• Probabilities Part Two

• Hidden Information

 

Week 4

• Player Interaction Part One

• More than Two Players

• Kingmaking

 

Week 5

• Player Interaction Part Two

• Trading and Bartering

• Cooperation

 

Week 6

• Player Interaction Part Three

• Deception and Bluffing

 

Week 7

• Conducting Playtests

• Processing Feedback

 

Week 8

• Constructing Puzzles

 

Week 9

• Game Economies

• Resource Engines

 

Week 10

• SPRING BREAK

 

Week 11

• Balancing Part One

• Solving Optimal Strategy

 

Week 12

• Balancing Part Two

• Snowballing and Catch-Up

 

Week 13

• Superstructure

  

Week 14

• Level Design Prototyping

 

Week 15

• User Interface Testing

 

Week 16

• Fine Tuning
• Component Feel
• Packaging and Manufacturing

 

Week 16

• FINALS WEEK