Course Syllabus

Course time and location: W 1:00 - 3:45 AC C107

Instructor: Edward Castronova, Professor of Media, Director of the Game Design Major, Indiana University

Contact Information

Office Hours: Mondays 1:00 - 3:00

Summary

This course is about game literacy, and will help you better understand the games you play. We will play many different board games, covering all kinds of mechanics and subjects, and use them to learn how to analyze a game and break it down into its different parts. For some students, this is the first step on the road to a career in the game industry, through Indiana University's Major in Game Design. For other students, improved game literacy will help in many fields, because games and interactive methods are becoming a more and more important part of media life and work. For all students, though, game literacy helps you lead a better life. Life is full of games, and many of them are quite hard. As you understand games better, you become more and more strategic in your thinking. Your decisions improve. That's helpful, no matter what sort of life you pursue.

Grading

Grades are based on your total points out of 500, on a standard 90/A, 80/B, 70/C scale. Click on the Assignments to see the requirements. Most of the assignments are short quizzes and reports of 10-25 points each. There are a few larger, 50-point assignments. There are no midterms and no final. You will have to do a presentation in class, however, on April 29. Rubrics for each assignment are based on the course's Learning Outcomes, which you can see by clicking on 'Outcomes' in the left sidebar.

Materials

You will have a to buy a book, a card deck, and two games. See the Course Materials page. It is really important that students bring the game they sign up for to class on the assigned day, because we learn by playing those games. You can sign up for games at the Game Pack Sign Up page. The first game needed (7 Wonders) is on January 28.

Finally, please review the Course Policies.