Entry requirements

A Bachelor's degree, equivalent to a Swedish Kandidatexamen, from an internationally recognised university, including 30 credits in game design or game development. Proficiency in English equivalent to the Swedish upper secondary course English 6.

Learning outcomes

After completing the course, the student will be able to:

• apply systematic technical prototyping as a method of inquiry, designing targeted experiments to explore and define a complex area of investigation
• identify and analyze innovations from the history of game design to understand how experimental inquiry can lead to transformative change
• synthesize insights from historical analysis and prototyping into a cohesive concept document for a project that addresses a self-selected area of inquiry
• critically and intentionally apply the methods of iterative design to refine a project's direction based on the findings from experimental prototypes.

Content

This course focuses on prototyping as a method for technical inquiry. In teams, students will create a series of targeted, experimental prototypes, designed to test a core assumption or investigate a specific area within the discipline of game design. During the course, students will also explore how experimental inquiry historically has led to paradigm-shifting changes in technology and culture within Game Design. Through this process the students will produce a cohesive concept document that will lay the foundation for their later Master’s thesis.

Instruction

Instruction in this course includes seminars, lectures, peer critiques, reviews and case studies in a lab environment.

Assessment

The course is assessed through the individual Design Journal, a group assignment in the form of a game concept document, active participation in group work, lab sessions and in giving and receiving peer feedback. To achieve a Pass, students must demonstrate satisfactory fulfillment of all assessed components.

If there are special reasons for doing so, an examiner may make an exception from the method of assessment indicated and allow a student to be assessed by another method. An example of special reasons might be a certificate regarding special pedagogical support from the University´s disability coordinator.