Course Plan

/ Game Selections / Games to Know /

C210 Introduction to Games
Spring 2018
Professor Edward Castronova
Instructor Nandhini Giri
BS in Game Design, The Media School, Indiana University

Contact information
Professor Castronova: castro@indiana.edu Do not use Canvas Inbox.
Hours: MW 2:15 - 3:15 @ Room 030H, Franklin Hall

Instructor Giri: ngiri@iu.edu
Hours: F 10 am - Noon @ Franklin Hall Commons

Beagle playing with stick.jpg

Please play stick

Course description
Introduction to Games is the starter course for the BS degree program in Game Design. Games have been an important part of human life for thousands of years. Games were invented before books. They are deep-wired in the brain; even animals play. Some philosophers say that life itself is a game. Designing games well is a profound intellectual and artistic challenge. This course introduces basic concepts related to games and game design. The central idea is that a game is a system and game design is actually system design. Systems thinking has become critical to understanding the modern world (weather systems, conflict systems, information systems); mastery of systems thinking is the primary intellectual benefit of studying games. Lectures cover systems and systems thinking, game design as system design, the history of games, and the game industry. Concepts are solidified by in-class examination of specific games.

Format
Lectures and in-class work with board games. Homeworks, midterms, final exam. Attendance is mandatory. This is a no-phone class (see details below). Announcements to the class will be made only through the Slack channel #c-210 at iu-games.slack.com. All students are required to join this channel.

Grades

Attendance (8pts/day)	96
Midterm 1	50
Midterm 2	50
Final exam	60
Game systems analysis (5@10 each)	50
Teach a game	30
D&D character sheet	30
Advanced games	40
Total	406

Grade scale is standard: 90% = A-, etc.

Attendance
Students start with 96 points and lose 8 points for an absence. Contact the TA to discuss excused absences.

Midterms
25 questions, multiple choice. In-class, no notes. Students must be able to access Canvas with a phone, laptop, or other device. Midterms cover all class content: Lectures, games, and readings.

Final exam
30 questions, multiple choice. In-person, no notes. Students must be able to access Canvas with a phone, laptop, or other device. Midterms cover all class content: Lectures, games, and readings. Check the Registrar to find the exact time and place. The final exam covers the whole course, from the first day to the last.

Game systems analysis
Short written assignment in Canvas. Students must do one of these for each of the five games. Each is worth 10 points. See assignment page for details.

Students teach students

Teach a game
Each student will be responsible for teaching one board game to a group of four other students. Different games will be assigned to different students based on interest and experience. The teaching student is responsible for getting the game from the game library in Franklin Hall and bringing it to class on the appropriate days. The quality of the student's teaching will be assessed directly in class. In addition, the student must prepare a one-page player aid for the other students to follow as they learn. The player aid is submitted at the end of class and will also be assessed. The player aid must be printed on paper and handed in and the end of the class when the game was taught. Students will lose points if they do not bring the game to class when it is assigned. See assignment page for details.

D&D character sheet
After playing D&D, students submit their character sheet for grading. See assignment page for details.

Advanced games
Students are given an extremely difficult game that they must teach themselves. Then they are given another extremely difficult game, which they must play correctly with the teacher, without any help. Warning: This grade is pass/fail, with a 90% fail rate. See assignment page for details.

Materials
Students must buy Advanced Game Design, by Mike Sellers (Pearson, 2018). There will be required reading from this book, graded through test questions about specific pages, illustrations, and concepts.

Games to Know
This is a faculty-compiled list of games that every game design student ought to know. As an optional assignment, students should try to play as many of these as they can during the semester. Extra credit may be granted on a case-by-case basis.

Policies
All students must join the Slack community for the BS Game Design program. The Slack channel #c-210 is the official communications channel for this class. Students are expected to check the Slack channel once every 24 hours. Join at https://iu-games.slack.com/signup/ using your IU email address.

After a long hard day of ruling ancient Egypt, Queen Nefertari relaxes with a game of Sennet. Sennet dates to 3500BC. The first books came 800 years later.

Late assignments
Late work loses one full grade for each business day past the deadline.

Grading philosophy
On rubric-based assignments, performance that is normal for an IU student will receive the second-highest score. The highest score is reserved for truly exceptional achievement and effort. The default grade for any percent-based assignment is 80%.

No phones
Unless expressly permitted by the instructor for class work, all phones, laptops, tablets, etc. are to be kept in bookbags, purse, etc. at all times. Repeated violations: The instructor will take the phone and keep it on the lectern until the end of class. Breaking this rule can result in points being deducted from the overall grade, or failing the course.

Research study
This semester C210 is the subject of a research project evaluating active learning in SB015. The project is under the direction of Drs. Julie Knapp, Jill Richardson, and Tessa Bent. Students with questions and concerns about the study should contact the instructors.

Academic integrity
As a student at IU, you are expected to adhere to the standards detailed in the Code of Student Rights, Responsibilities, and Conduct (Code). Academic misconduct is defined as any activity that tends to undermine the academic integrity of the institution. Violations include: cheating, fabrication, plagiarism, interference, violation of course rules, and facilitating academic dishonesty. When you submit an assignment with your name on it, you are signifying that the work contained therein is yours, unless otherwise cited or referenced. Any ideas or materials taken from another source for either written or oral use must be fully acknowledged. All suspected violations of the Code will be reported to the Dean of Students and handled according to University policies. Sanctions for academic misconduct may include a failing grade on the assignment, reduction in your final course grade, and a failing grade in the course, among other possibilities. If you are unsure about the expectations for completing an assignment or taking a test or exam, be sure to seek clarification from your instructor in advance.

Re: Note Selling: Several commercial services have approached students regarding selling class notes/study guides to their classmates. Selling the instructor’s notes/study guides in this course is not permitted. Violations of this policy will be reported to the Dean of Students as academic misconduct (violation of course rules). Sanctions for academic misconduct may include a failing grade on the assignment for which the notes/study guides are being sold, a reduction in your final course grade, or a failing grade in the course, among other possibilities. Additionally, you should know that selling a faculty member’s notes/study guides individually or on behalf of one of these services using IU email, or via Canvas may also constitute a violation of IU information technology and IU intellectual property policies; additional consequences may result.