Game Design Essentials: Tools, Theories and Techniques

🚀 Course Title: Game Design Essentials: Tools, Theories and Techniques

🔥 Headline: Harness the power of game design, psychology, and systems thinking to understand your players and how games work.

📘 Course Description: This course offers a comprehensive framework to understand and practice game design at an essential level. 🎮 As you progress through the modules, you'll gain insights into the multifaceted role of a game designer, delve into the core components that make games engaging, and explore the intersection of psychology, player behavior, and systemic design. By the end of this course, you will have the tools and thinking processes to discern why some games captivate players for hours on end, while others struggle to engage.

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN:

• 👤 Understand the roles within game development and how they contribute to a successful project.
• 🌱 Discover what skills you need to keep improving as a game designer.
• 🔠 Grasp the fundamentals of game parts, mechanics, and dynamics – the building blocks of game design.
• 💡 Harness the power of Design Thinking to enhance your Empathy, Ideation, and Prototyping capabilities for game development.
• 🧠 Utilize Psychology to gain insights into player motivation and perception.
• ✍️ Learn what a Game Design Document (GDD) is and how to create one.
• 🎬 Understand the elements of a successful game pitch and how to present your ideas effectively.
• 🤫 Master communication strategies for conveying your game concept to team members.
• ⚖️ Explore the relationship between math, probability, and game mechanics in both board and video games.
• 📊 Create game models using Google Spreadsheets to test and refine your game design early in the process.
• 🤔 Employ random, procedural generation, and systems thinking to craft games with systemic gameplay that are as interesting to play as they are to watch.
• 🌍 Analyze real-world and game systems to create meaningful games that connect players to their surroundings and experiences.

HOW YOU WILL PRACTICE WHAT YOU HAVE LEARNED:

• 🃏 You will design and develop your very own card game from scratch, applying all the concepts you've learned throughout the course.
• ⚙️ Each activity is meticulously crafted to reinforce the lessons and ensure practical application of the theories discussed.
• 🔄 Your card game will be a living project that you can continue to refine and enhance even after completing the course.

What is NOT included in this course:

• 🧹 Programming languages (although understanding how games function at a code level can be beneficial, this course focuses on the design aspect rather than coding).
• 🎨 Art asset creation (this course concentrates on the conceptual and design aspects of game creation).

By enrolling in "Game Design Essentials: Tools, Theories and Techniques," you're taking the first step towards a new level of understanding in game development. Get ready to immerse yourself in a world where theory meets practice, and your creativity can run wild! 🌟