Game Design Workshop lectures will cover chance and skill in game design. Students must submit a game documentation, postmortem, and lecture diary for grading. The learning diary should reflect on selected lecture topics and evaluate the lectures and one's own learning. Further reading is recommended on challenges for game designers. An upcoming lecture will present design exercises on incorporating chance into tic-tac-toe and a game involving tiles, fog of war, and matching names.

1. Game DesignGameplay Design WorkshopPetri Lankoskiaalto.fi

2. Getting CreditsReturn documentation of each game (a PDF document)Names of group membersComplete set of rulesAll what is needed to play (e.g., cards, board)Postmortem3 to 5 things that went right3 to 5 things that went wrongAttending lectures6 lectures on Wed 13 to 15 starting on 15.9.Lecture diary containing reflections from 4 lecturesDeadline for the both: Fri 12.11.

3. GradingGame design are gradedCompleteness and quality of rulesBoard design and card designNot graphical qualityLecture diary influence grades (-1,, 0, +1)Missed deadline reduces the grade (-1 per week)Unless new deadline is agreed beforehand

4. Learning DiaryShort essay style reflections of the contents of a lectureCan be critical or complementaryYou can use references to other sources to expand or criticize the lectureExplain why you selected the topics of the lectureShould include a page that Evaluate the lectures as wholeEvaluate ones own learningLearning diary is not a summary of lecture

5. Further ReadingBrathwaite, B. & Schrieber, I. (2008). Challenges for Game Designers. Course Technology. Available at Ebrary (http://site.ebrary.com/lib/aalto/)

6. Sep 8 AgendaPresentation of yesterday's assignmentsChance and SkillDesign Exercise, Chance and SkillPresenting the exerciseDesign Exercise, Chance and Skill

7. Chance and SkillSkill-based gamesChess, Chance-based gamesRouletteChance- and skill-based gamesBlackjack, Bridge, Settlers of Catan, RiskChance increase variation

8. Using ChangeDice4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 20, 30, 100 sidesWith a single die, each side have equal probability2d6 creates bell-curve (skew toward 7)Each die roll is independent from previous dice rollsFurther reading: TorbenMogensen: Dice-Rolling Mechanisms in RPGs, http://www.darkshire.net/jhkim/rpg/systemdesign/torben_rpg_dice.pdf

9. 6 Sided Dice BehaviorFigure: Weisstein, http://mathworld.wolfram.com/Dice.html

10. Using ChanceCardsImperfect informationDifferent dynamics depending on how many cards are dealt and when the deck is reshuffled Blackjack – Bridge – Magic the Gathering – CarcassonneEach card drawn influence to the probabilities of remaining cardsReshuffling the deck after each draw makes deck behaving like die

11. Using Chance…Pseudo-random numbersComputers can simulate dice and card shufflingTypically sufficiently random, but NOT alwaysYou can test the generator by producing, e.g., 1000 eventsIs the distribution of the events sufficiently correct? Hidden informationChoices based on hidden information are pseudo-random

12. Design Exercise: Tic-Tac-Toe with LuckModify Tic-Tac-Toe to add randomness to the game

13. Design Exercise: The Alien in the DesertThe game must useTiles similar to Carcassonne or CatanFog of WarMatch with the name