Elective Spotlight: Game Theory and Design

Everyone most likely knows a person who thinks they can always make something better. That one person who thinks their ideas, their game, could be more fun. The one person who likes to challenge others and create games of skill, dexterity, strategy, and inevitably sanity. Well, that person would most likely do well in the new elective, Game Theory and Design. There, students can bring their ideas to life and learn game design with Mr. King. This class is an introductory class available to all students and is recommended for students interested in game design careers, or students that think they want to do something connected to game design. The class touches on different types of people with different interests, whether it be programming, animation, art, or any other aspect of designing a game.

Now, this is not just a standard ‘engineering class’, it is a class that introduces the idea that the skills that students learn can allow them to make bigger and better things in the gaming world. The next class following this, Advanced Game Theory, will be added the year after Game Theory and Design if the class goes well. The class will expose students to all different things that can happen and introduce students to different options very early on. It also offers different courses connected to the interest of the student and where they would like to continue in the engineering or game design pathway.

The class will begin the first semester with students doing different activities that enhance the thought process of students with game design. They will analyze games, play games without instructions, make a game with limited information, take a simple game and make it more complex, and learn about different components. The second semester will primarily focus on making a game with a team of students from start to finish, using everything they have learned throughout the first semester to create a game from scratch and go through all the steps. Specifically, in the fourth quarter, students will go through the process to do basic video game design with a team.

Game Theory and Design will introduce students to video game design and show the difference between traditional game design and video game design. It will give students an opportunity to dig into Unity, a computer program categorized as a video game engine, with digital design teams. This class will have a lot of trial and error, teamwork, projects, learning basics while performing them, and fun. The class will completely immerse students in the world of video game design, and it is bound to be fun and interactive. Mr. King is more than ecstatic to be teaching this class next year and looks forward to teaching it with students.

Students can also watch the trailer on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_t_H-4pORw.