VGS 2640 - Video Games: A Cultural History - 3 credits
Alternate Fall Semesters
This course introduces students to a cultural history of video games. We begin by considering the idea of “a game” in human cultures over time. We’ll investigate how games function as “texts” that tell us something about the cultures in which they are produced, as well as the cultures within which they are primarily consumed. The course offers students a critical reading of the socio-cultural and political functions of video games, with a special focus on their constitutive role in the North American context.
VGS 2641 - Introduction to Games - 3 credits
Alternate Spring Semesters
In this course, students learn the core principles of games and examine many varieties of play. Each week, they will critically play and debate influential digital and non-digital games, while working to understand how rules, play, and culture create an experience. They will consider the aesthetics of the game and the game world, as well as the impact that narrative, character, players, visuals, plot and music all contribute to the game.
Assignments include Critical Analyses (video and written).
VGS 2650 - Game Design - 3 credits
Spring Semester
Students learn how to design intersecting game levels and mechanics, considering how a level’s aesthetics, rules, characters, events, and narratives interact with each other to create a world. Students craft multiple paper or digital prototypes using an iterative design paradigm and execute playtests with a group of collaborating students multiple times over the course of the semester. Assignments include multiple iterations on Prototypes and (executed and analyzed) Playtest Designs.
VGS 2655 - Gaming Industries - 3 credits
Alternate Fall Semesters
In this course, students will study the current state of the gaming industry, learning about the different careers in gaming as well as labor issues like crunch and unionization. Depending on schedule availability, the course will be highlighted by class visits from industry professionals in and around the Boston area.
VGS 3645 - Video Games: Theory and Analysis - 3 credits
Alternate Fall Semesters
A critical study of games and gaming in human cultures over time, with a special focus on the modern Video Game industry. Students will explore the history and economics of gaming while also discussing and analyzing the impact and interplay of games on psyche and society alike.
Prerequisite: VGS 2641.
VGS 3656 - Death and Games - 3 credits
Alternate Years
This course explores a variety of recent digital and non-digital games that do something fascinating with death and post-death play. Students analyze and design games, considering questions like: How do we play when we know the end (of our bodies, our worlds, our languages) is coming? How do we play after the end has arrived, and we are somehow still here? How does an art form famous for violence depict quieter aspects of the aftermath of violence – the work of mourning and redemption? Assignments include Presentation, Reflections (video and written), and Game Design.
Prerequisite: VGS 2641.