CS365 : Advanced Projects in Playable Media

Spring 2025
Instructor: Jordan Tynes

jtynes@wellesley.edu

Welcome to CS 365!

You are here to embark on a great adventure of working with your peers to create a digital game of your own design! Within the scope of a single semester, you will envision, plan, and produce a short game that demonstrates your deepening understanding of and appreciation for the playable medium!

  • Class Arch:
    We will meet in person once per week throughout the semester. These sessions will be long and require you to prepare by reading all assigned articles, organize your thoughts for discussions, and continually make progress on your game project. The syllabus below will fill out as we get started identifying your personal interests and goals for this semester. Get ready! One semester... one game! You will also be responsible for sharing readings and leading a discussion for one of our class sessions.
  • General Requirements:

    You are expected to have comfort with game development workflows using the Unity Game Engine. Whether it was via coursework or some other enterprise, you should already have a personal investment in games as a creative medium. In this course, you will continue to develop this personal interest alongside collaborators and other colleagues. You will be responsible for coming to each session prepared to share your work, give and recieve feedback, as well as engage in meaningful discussions about the meaning of play!

  • Optional Activities:

    I plan to organize several activities throughout the semester that will be optional, but strongly encouraged. These could include game nights, Twitch streams, panels, etc. These will be announced both in-class and via email. Stay tuned!

    Twitch Streams:

    Tuesdays @ 8pm!

Schedule:

The weekly content of this course will be largely influenced by your interests in Playable Media and desires to explore new technical territory. As such, this section of the site will be updated each week. Please check back regularly for the latest information about readings and other tasks you need to accomplish to prepare for in-person class sessions. Note: unless otherwise annouced in class, due dates for assignments will not change.

Week 1:

Wednesday, January 22nd
Introducing CS365; Defining our appreciation of games; Tech goals; Arch of the semester = Avoiding crunch
Milestone: NA
Readings & Resources
In the coming weeks, readings from our central textbook by Richard Lemarchand will be assigned here. Read them IN PREPARATION for this session.
Assigned Reading:
Example Article
Other resources provided by discussion leaders will also be posted here, such as links to aspects of the assignments. These will also be required.
Technical Information
This area will contain information about technical materials from each session.
Unity Refresh
Tech Link:

Intro to Unity 6

Week 2:

Wednesday, January 29th
Ideation; Group formation; Ethical production timelines; Scope
Milestone: Personal Reflection and Goal Statement
Readings & Resources
Lemarchand:
Chapter 4 and 6
Discussion Leaders: Jordan
Environmental Storytelling
Technical Information
One Sheet and Storymap

Week 3:

Wednesday, February 5th
Physical prototyping; Inventories and "bibles"; Distributing tasks and effective collaboration
Milestone: One Sheet and Story Map
Readings & Resources
Lemarchand:
Chapter 7 and 8
Discussion Leaders: Jordan
Colonialism in Games
Technical Information
3D Third Person Platformer
MOVED TO NEXT WEEK Looking at Vertical Slice of a sidescrolling platformer using URP and 3D assets.
Tech Link:

Example: Game Dev Macros

Unity: Core Loop and Third Person Platformer

Week 4:

Wednesday, February 12th
Vertical Slices; Scheduling milestones; Refining Macros
Milestone: Game Design Macro
Readings & Resources
Lemarchand:
Chapter 17 and 18
Technical Information
"Budgeting" and Scheduling
Game Dev Example
There are soooo many videos on Gameplay Loops

Like this one!

Week 5:

Wednesday, February 19th
Playtesting and feedback; Grayboxing practices; Other prototypes
Milestone: Core Loop Playtest
Readings & Resources
Lemarchand:
Chapter 10 and 11
Discussion Leaders:
Tina and Zoey
Death and Loops in Games
Technical Information
Refining Core Loops
Workshopping your Gameplay Mechanics

Week 6:

Wednesday, February 26th
Concentric Development
Milestone: Vertical Slice Graybox
Readings & Resources
Lemarchand:
Chapter 13
Discussion Leaders:
Ahona and Nkechi
Disability Justice and Games
Technical Information
Greyboxing and Collaborative Edge-Finding

Week 7:

Wednesday, March 5th
Playtesting expanded
Milestone: NA
Readings & Resources
Lemarchand:
Chapter 12 and 14
Discussion Leaders:
Ian and Marie
Metroidbrainias and Knowledge Based Games
Technical Information
Playtesting

Week 8:

Wednesday, March 12th
Capturing and Reflecting
Milestone: Vertical Slice Playtest
Readings & Resources
Lemarchand:
Chapter 19
Discussion Leaders:
Alexis and Sophia
Emulation and Piracy
Playtesting!

Week 9:

Wednesday, March 26th
Entering Full Production
Milestone: Reflection
Readings & Resources
Lemarchand:
Chapter 22 and 23
Discussion Leaders:
Annabel and Jasmine
Games As Therapy
Technical Information
Alpha Production

Week 10:

Wednesday, April 2nd
Supporting other visions
Milestone: Alpha Presentations
Readings & Resources
Lemarchand:
Chapter 24 and 28
Discussion Leaders:
TBA
Technical Information
Alpha Presentation / Workshop

Week 11:

Wednesday, April 9th
Open labs and prep
Readings & Resources
Lemarchand:
Chapter 25 and 31
Discussion Leaders:
TBA
Technical Information
Open Lab

Week 12:

Wednesday, April 23rd
Final playtest
Milestone: Beta Playtest
Readings & Resources
Lemarchand:
Chapter 32
Discussion Leaders:
TBA
Technical Information
Formal Playtesting

Week 13:

Wednesday, April 30th
Post-Production
Milestone: Final Presentation
Readings & Resources
Lemarchand:
Chapter 35 and 36
Discussion Leaders:
N/A
Technical Information
Beta Feedback
Friday, May 2nd
Playable Media Open House Event!
Time TBA