Syllabus
From Big Urban Games
Contents
Class 1 (3/5/2007)
In class
- Introduction
- workshop format: syllabus overview
- info-sharing and communication tools: wiki, listserv, del.icio.us
- Why BUGs?
- Presentation of BUG case studies
- Big Urban Game, PacManhattan, Conqwest, Superstar Tokyo, Mogi-Mogi, Cruel 2 B Kind, Identity, Uncle Roy All Around You
- game context (what occasion, what location)
- gameplay (rules, who played, objective)
- implementation (technology, infrastructure, additional components)
Assignments
1. GAME 1: NROG (New Rules, Old Games)
- 4 teams of 4
- You will remix a game; create a new rule set for an old game
- choose from Scrabble, Chess, Chinese Checkers, Go, Risk
- Quick one-page analysis of the existing game vis-a-vis its
- Rules - What are the rules? What components (game board, pieces) are used?
- Gameplay - How do you play it? What are you supposed to do? What types of strategies, offensive/defensive/etc., are developed?
- Experience - What do you feel playing it? Does it encourage conflict/tension? Or cooperation? Why is the game fun (or not)? What are key dramatic, pivotal moments in the game?
- Create a new game based on the existing game
- How are the above criteria altered after your intervention?
- Prepare a short presentation that includes
- your analyses of the new game you've created
- a concise, one-page documentation of your NROG (see examples)
- be prepared to play the game in the following class (we'll set aside 20 minutes for presentation and play).
- Gabe Lloyd
Resources
- Rules of Play, Katie Salen and Eric Zimmerman
- Ironclad (p. 286-297), commissioned game by Frank Lantz
- Chapter 9: The Magic Circle, p.93-99
- General Suggested Reading/Reference:
- Unit 1: Core Concepts, pp.28-105
- Unit 2: Rules, pp.116-285
- Unit 3: Play, pp.298-487
- The Game Design Reader: A Rules of Play Anthology, Salen and Zimmerman, eds.
- Tools for Creating Dramatic Game Dynamics (pp.438-459), Marc Leblanc
- Game Design as Narrative Architecture (pp.670-689), Henry Jenkins
- New Rules for Classic Games, R. Wayne Schmittberger
- Chess remixes, p.185
- Go remixes, p.58
- Scrabble remixes, p.87
- Chinese Checkers remixes, p.8
- Risk remixes, p.48
Class 2 (3/19/2007)
In class
- Recap of Class 1
- Play / critique NROGs
- Discussion of Urban Site Analysis
- Discussion of GAME 2: SSUG (small somewhat urban game)
Assignments
URBAN ANALYSIS
- Each group will pick a urban feature of New York to analyze
- Scale of the 'site' can vary: a particular block, blocks, landmark, neighborhood, street, one borough, all five boroughs, etc.
- Focus on a set of salient data points of your site, for example:
- S (block): location of mailboxes or phone booths, pedestrian behavior, traffic patterns
- M (neighborhood): arrangement of streets, deployment of bldg numbers, building heights
- L (Manhattan): locations of Starbucks, a particular subway line, real estate values, zoning patterns
- XL (metropolitan New York): MTA subway routes, interborough traffic patterns, borough/ethnic identities, zip codes
- Record/map/examine the the data you find: How does the urban infrastructure influence behavior around the site? What dynamic systems (rules, forces, and movement patterns) are at work? How is your site physically defined?
- Diagram and record this information into a single drawing or physical model
- documentation should be abstract and diagrammatic
- this will be presented in class 3
Resources
- The Good Life, roundtable discussions
- 'The Fun City,' p.49
- 'The Connected City,' p.65
- Image of the City, Kevin Lynch. "The City Image and its Elements," pp.46-90
- Guy Debord and the Situationist International: Texts and Documents, Tom McDonough ed. "Situationist Space," Tom McDonough
- 'Architecture and Play,' by Libero Andreotti, p.213-240
- 'Situationist Space,' by Tom McDonough, p. 241-265
Class 3 (3/26/2007)
In class
- Technology / media survey presentation
- tools, the state of the art
- techniques
- GPS, ubiquitous computing, mobile tech, open mapping protocols (google/yahoo maps)
- Presentation of Urban Site Analysis
Assignments
GAME 2: SSUG (small somewhat urban game)
- Create a game by distilling the Urban Site Analysis into a gamespace
- design a game around what you have examined during your site analysis, using scale, data points, dynamic systems as gameplay elements
- Prototype
- outline the gameplay using symbolic pieces for players and for key urban elements used in the game
- to the greatest extent possible, test the gameplay out on the gameboard
- prepare a basic Design Brief for the incomplete game for presentation
- take a look at Tom Sloper's template here for a general basis.
Resources
- On-line listings and resources (as collected in our wiki's Readings and Resources section)
- Rules of Play, Katie Salen and Eric Zimmerman
- (if you haven't already read this ...) Ironclad (p. 286-297), commissioned game by Frank Lantz
- General Suggested Reading/Reference:
- Unit 1: Core Concepts, pp.28-105
- Unit 2: Rules, pp.116-285
- Unit 3: Play, pp.298-487
- The Game Design Reader: A Rules of Play Anthology, Salen and Zimmerman, eds.
- Tools for Creating Dramatic Game Dynamics (pp.438-459), Marc Leblanc
- Game Design as Narrative Architecture (pp.670-689), Henry Jenkins
Class 4 (4/2/2007)
In class
- Guest presentation: Frank Lantz
"Play/critique/evaluate BUGs
Assignments
- Continue to design / develop / playtest / refine BUG
Resources
Class 5 (4/9/2007)
In class
- Guest presentation: Carlos Gomez de Llarenna, architect, new media artist, and co-creator of Node-Runner, a BUG based around open wifi networks in the city.
- Play/critique/evaluate BUGs
Assignments
- Continue to design / develop / playtest / refine BUG
Resources
Class 6 (4/16/2007)
In class
- Guest presentation: Midnight Madness crew
Assignments
- Continue to design / develop / playtest / refine BUG
- final review will be played by members of Columbia GSAPP community, not by BUG class students
Resources
