Course Coordinator:Scott Roberts (sroberts1@usc.edu.au) School:School of Business and Creative Industries
UniSC Sunshine CoastUniSC Moreton Bay |
Blended learning | Most of your course is on campus but you may be able to do some components of this course online. |
Online |
Online | You can do this course without coming onto campus, unless your program has specified a mandatory onsite requirement. |
Please go to unisc.edu.au for up to date information on the
teaching sessions and campuses where this course is usually offered.
This course examines the theoretical concepts of game design through the lens of experimental practice. In response to a theme, you will work individually to develop unique ways of interacting with gamespaces by rapidly prototyping a series of game ideas. Through focused experimentation, you will create, apply and critique game designs, gameplay and game technology in a variety of contexts and genres.
| Activity | Hours | Beginning Week | Frequency |
| Blended learning | |||
| Learning materials – Interactive online learning activities. | 1hr | Week 1 | 12 times |
| Tutorial/Workshop 1 – Scheduled face to face workshops. | 2hrs | Week 1 | 12 times |
| Online | |||
| Learning materials – Interactive online learning activities. | 1hr | Week 1 | 12 times |
| Tutorial/Workshop 1 – Scheduled online workshops (Recorded). | 2hrs | Week 1 | 12 times |
200 Level (Developing)
12 units
| Course Learning Outcomes On successful completion of this course, you should be able to... | Graduate Qualities Completing these tasks successfully will contribute to you becoming... | |
| 1 | Demonstrate knowledge of theories relating to game design and production, game mechanics, and game elements, and how they integrate to form game experiences. | Knowledgeable |
| 2 | Critically analyse games through given frameworks and design theories. | Creative and critical thinker |
| 3 | Design and create prototypes of experimental games based on theories of design and game design principles. | Engaged |
Refer to the UniSC Glossary of terms for definitions of “pre-requisites, co-requisites and anti-requisites”.
Not applicable
Not applicable
Not applicable
knowledge and skills (where applicable) Beginner knowledge of game design theory and practices.
Not applicable
Standard Grading (GRD)
| High Distinction (HD), Distinction (DN), Credit (CR), Pass (PS), Fail (FL). |
Students will give a 5-minute demonstrations of game prototypes they have designed that respond to a theme. This will provide an opportunity to showcase students’ current knowledge and receive feedback from both the tutor and their peers.
| Delivery mode | Task No. | Assessment Product | Individual or Group | Weighting % | What is the duration / length? | When should I submit? | Where should I submit it? |
| All | 1 | Artefact - Creative | Individual | 30% | Four game prototypes |
Refer to Format | Online Assignment Submission with plagiarism check |
| All | 2 | Artefact - Creative, and Oral | Individual | 30% | 20 minutes - (4 sessions x 5 minutes) |
Refer to Format | Online Self and Peer Assessment |
| All | 3 | Journal | Individual | 40% | 2500 words |
Refer to Format | Online Blog, Wiki or Journal |
| All - Assessment Task 1:Game Prototypes | |||||||||||||
| Goal: | Develop a range of prototypes that explore and test a variety of game design principles and mechanics. |
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| Product: | Artefact - Creative | ||||||||||||
| Authorship Statement: | |||||||||||||
| Format: | Students are required to design and develop a series of prototypes in short development cycles and in response to keywords and themes. Prototypes will be submitted for critique in weeks 4, 7, 11 and 12 during the scheduled critique sessions. Feedback for each prototype will be provided during critique sessions, with a final grade awarded for the submission of all four prototypes in week 12. |
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| Criteria: |
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| Generic Skills: | Problem solving, Applying technologies |
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| All - Assessment Task 2:Critique Sessions with artefact | |||||||||||||
| Goal: | Critique your own work and present an analysis of the prototyping experience. Explain the chosen design process and production methodologies when presenting results. |
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| Product: | Artefact - Creative, and Oral | ||||||||||||
| Authorship Statement: | |||||||||||||
| Format: | Participate and effectively contribute to critique sessions. Critique sessions occur in weeks 4, 7, 11 and 12. Students are required to actively participate in the critique of their own and others work demonstrating an understanding of game design concepts and theories discussed in learning materials. Each session will be worth 7.5% (total of 30%) of the total course marks. |
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| Criteria: |
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| Generic Skills: | Communication, Problem solving, Information literacy |
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| All - Assessment Task 3:Reflective Journal | |||||||||||||
| Goal: | A personalised account of own experience during design challenges. Incorporating reflection of experimental techniques and methodologies as well as the deconstruction and evaluation of other works. |
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| Product: | Journal | ||||||||||||
| Authorship Statement: | |||||||||||||
| Format: | Design journal reflecting on a series of prototypes, presentation, and game designs. During the development of each prototype and after each critique you will submit a changelog/blog, that summarizes your design goals and reflects on existing game design influences and the feedback provided during the critique sessions. Journals are submitted in weeks 5, 8, 12 and Exam Period. |
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| Criteria: |
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| Generic Skills: | Communication, Problem solving, Applying technologies, Information literacy |
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A 12-unit course will have total of 150 learning hours which will include directed study hours (including online if required), self-directed learning and completion of assessable tasks. Student workload is calculated at 12.5 learning hours per one unit.
Please note: Course information, including specific information of recommended readings, learning activities, resources, weekly readings, etc. are available on the course Canvas site– Please log in as soon as possible.
You need regular access to the resource(s) below. Many texts are available as ebooks through the Library at no additional cost.
| Required? | Author | Year | Title | Edition | Publisher |
| Recommended | Jesse Schell | 2008 | The Art of Game Design | n/a | CRC Press |
This course requires some commercial software or hardware which is provided at USC campuses for student use. If you elect to do this course online, you may either; attend a campus at which it is available, discuss alternative open source solutions with your course coordinator that would enable you to demonstrate the learning outcomes, or if you prefer you may acquire this software and / or hardware at your own expense. Some experience with game development software is highly recommended.
Academic integrity is the ethical standard of university participation. It ensures that students graduate as a result of proving they are competent in their discipline. This is integral in maintaining the value of academic qualifications. Each industry has expectations and standards of the skills and knowledge within that discipline and these are reflected in assessment.
Academic integrity means that you do not engage in any activity that is considered to be academic fraud; including plagiarism, collusion or outsourcing any part of any assessment item to any other person. You are expected to be honest and ethical by completing all work yourself and indicating in your work which ideas and information were developed by you and which were taken from others. You cannot provide your assessment work to others. You are also expected to provide evidence of wide and critical reading, usually by using appropriate academic references.
In order to minimise incidents of academic fraud, this course may require that some of its assessment tasks, when submitted to Canvas, are electronically checked through Turnitin. This software allows for text comparisons to be made between your submitted assessment item and all other work to which Turnitin has access.
Eligibility for Supplementary Assessment
Your eligibility for supplementary assessment in a course is dependent of the following conditions applying:
(a) The final mark is in the percentage range 47% to 49.4%; and
(b) The course is graded using the Standard Grading scale
Late submissions may be penalised up to and including the following maximum percentage of the assessment task’s identified value, with weekdays and weekends included in the calculation of days late:
(a) One day: deduct 5%;
(b) Two days: deduct 10%;
(c) Three days: deduct 20%;
(d) Four days: deduct 40%;
(e) Five days: deduct 60%;
(f) Six days: deduct 80%;
(g) Seven days: A result of zero is awarded for the assessment task.
The following penalties will apply for a late submission for an online examination:
Less than 15 minutes: No penalty
From 15 minutes to 30 minutes: 20% penalty
More than 30 minutes: 100% penalty
For more information on Academic Learning & Teaching categories including:
For more information, visit https://www.usc.edu.au/explore/policies-and-procedures#academic-learning-and-teaching
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