| SES # | TOPICS | READINGS |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Introduction to the course, key assignments. Quick design exercise | |
| 2 | What is a game? What is play? | Salen & Zimmerman. pp. 77-81 and 122-155. |
| 3 | Salen & Zimmerman. pp. 83-86 and 296-313. | |
| 4 | Rules of play | Salen & Zimmerman. pp. 9-13 and 476-502. |
| 5 | Gaming the game | Salen & Zimmerman. pp. 9-13 and 728-753. |
| 6 | Player and character | Salen & Zimmerman. pp. 27-31 and 642-669. |
| 7 | ||
| 8 | Ludology | Frasca, G. "Simulation Versus Narrative: Introduction to Ludology." Juul, J. "The Game, The Player, The World: Looking for a Heart of Gameness." |
| 9 | Narratology | Salen & Zimmerman. pp. 33-36 and 670-689. |
| 10 | Guest lecture | |
| 11 | Midterm exam | |
| 12 | Student presentations | |
| 13 | Student presentations (cont.) | |
| 14 | Student presentations (cont.) | |
| 15 | Videogames and learning | Salen & Zimmerman. pp. 228-267. |
| 16 | Student presentations (cont.) | |
| 17 | Student presentations (cont.) | |
| 18 | Massively multiplayer online games | Salen & Zimmerman. pp. 754-787. Yee, N. "Motivations of Play in Online Games." |
| 19 | Student presentations (cont.) | |
| 20 | Race and violence in games | DeVane, B., and K. D. Squire. "The Meanings of Race and Violence in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas." |
| 21 | Rules and play revisited | Salen & Zimmerman. pp. 28-37 and 116-125. |
| 22 | Student presentations (cont.) | |
| 23 | Rules and play revisited | Salen & Zimmerman. pp. 298-311 and 502-513. |
| 24 | Cheating and gamer culture | Consalvo, M. "The Cheaters." |
| 25 | Final exam review |
Table of Contents
Study Materials
Readings
 Help support MIT OpenCourseWare by shopping at Amazon.com! MIT OpenCourseWare offers direct links to Amazon.com to purchase the books cited in this course. Click on the Amazon logo to the left of any citation and purchase the book from Amazon.com, and MIT OpenCourseWare will receive up to 10% of all purchases you make. Your support will enable MIT to continue offering open access to MIT courses. |
This section contains the required readings, which are also presented by session, and optional readings for the course.
Salen, K., and E. Zimmerman. The Game Design Reader: A Rules of Play Anthology. Cambridge, MA: MIT University Press, 2005. ISBN: 9780262195362.
Frasca, G. "Simulation Versus Narrative: Introduction to Ludology." Video Game Theory Reader. Edited by M. Wolf and B. Perron. New York, NY: Routledge, 2003. ISBN: 9780415965781.
Juul, J. "The Game, The Player, The World: Looking for a Heart of Gameness." Level Up: Digital Games Research Conference Proceedings. Edited by M. Copier and J. Raessens. Utrecht, the Netherlands: Utrecht University Press, 2003.
Yee, N. "Motivations of Play in Online Games." CyberPsychology and Behavior 9 (2007): 772-775.
DeVane, B., and K. D. Squire. "The Meanings of Race and Violence in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas." Games and Culture. (Forthcoming)
Consalvo, M., ed. "The Cheaters." In Cheating: Gaining Advantage in Videogames. Cambridge, MA: MIT University Press, 2007. ISBN: 9780262033657.
Optional Readings
Steinkuehler, C. "Massively Multiplayer Online Video Gaming as Participation in a Discourse." Mind, Culture, and Activity 12 (2006): 38-52.
Williams, D. "The Video Game Lightning Rod: Constructions of a New Media Technology, 1970-2000." Information, Communication and Society 6 (2003): 523-550.