Ten Commandments for Game Development Education Ernest W. Adams

10. Thou shalt not give tests in game development courses, nor be dogmatic in thy doctrine, for even thou knowest not all.

9. Thou shalt reward precision and punish hand-waving, for the Lord loveth it not.

8. Except ye teach a master’s-level course in experimental interaction design, thou shalt not emphasize aesthetics or story at the expense of interaction , i.e. gameplay.

7. Thou shalt teach not only game development, but also the history of games , the analysis of games , and the sociology of gaming .

6. With industry shalt thou build relationships; yet also shalt thou remember that “industry” explodeth in all directions , and meaneth more than PC and console games for the West.

5. Thou shalt require teamwork . Thou shalt teach the skills of project management , and shalt gently discourage over-ambitious projects.

4. Thou shalt not punish failure in thy students’ first-year projects, but encourage them to learn from it.

3. In their final projects, thou shalt encourage thinking outside the box .

2. Thou shalt require thy pupils to study other arts and sciences besides the craft of game development, for the ignorant developer createth only the derivative game.

1. Thou shalt integrate all the disciplines of game development unto the utmost of thy institution’s capacity.

0. Thou shalt not take an existing computer science, art, animation, media studies, English, or other program, add a game course or two to it , and call it a game program, for that is an abomination unto the Lord .

The Decalogue of Dev Education 0. Thou shalt not take a CS/art/etc. program, add one game course, and call it a game program. Thou shalt integrate all the disciplines of game development unto the utmost of thy capacity. Thou shalt require thy pupils to study other arts and sciences besides the craft of game development. In their final projects, thou shalt encourage thinking outside the box. Thou shalt permit failure in thy students’ early projects, and encourage them to learn from it. Thou shalt require teamwork. Thou shalt teach project management, and gently discourage over-ambitious projects.

0. Thou shalt not take a CS/art/etc. program, add one game course, and call it a game program.

Thou shalt integrate all the disciplines of game development unto the utmost of thy capacity.

Thou shalt require thy pupils to study other arts and sciences besides the craft of game development.

In their final projects, thou shalt encourage thinking outside the box.

Thou shalt permit failure in thy students’ early projects, and encourage them to learn from it.

Thou shalt require teamwork. Thou shalt teach project management, and gently discourage over-ambitious projects.

The Decalogue of Dev Education With industry shalt thou build relationships; yet also shalt thou remember that “industry” explodeth in all directions. Thou shalt teach not only game development, but also the history of games, the analysis of games, and the sociology of gaming. Thou shalt not emphasize aesthetics or story at the expense of interaction, i.e. gameplay. Thou shalt reward precision and punish hand-waving. Thou shalt not give tests in game development courses, nor be dogmatic in thy doctrine, for even thou knowest not all things.

With industry shalt thou build relationships; yet also shalt thou remember that “industry” explodeth in all directions.

Thou shalt teach not only game development, but also the history of games, the analysis of games, and the sociology of gaming.

Thou shalt not emphasize aesthetics or story at the expense of interaction, i.e. gameplay.

Thou shalt reward precision and punish hand-waving.

Thou shalt not give tests in game development courses, nor be dogmatic in thy doctrine, for even thou knowest not all things.

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Ten Commandments for Game Development Education Ernest W. Adams