Texts and Other Useful Links

Textbook:

A Playful Production Process : For Game Designers (and Everyone)

by Richard Lemarchand

Readings for Discussions:

Week 2: Environmental Storytelling

How to Tell Stories and Guide Players Through Level Design

A tour of the perfect world-building behind Disney’s Tower of Terror

Week 3: Colonialism in Games

Dreaming of a Postcolonial Video Game

White Protagonism and Imperial Pleasures in Game Design (text, not video)

Week 4: Soundtracks and Sound Effects in Video Games

"Immersion: How Music Deepens the Play Experience," A Composer's Guide to Game Music

"Exploring the Use of Musical Sound Effects in Games", pages 69-75 (stop before "Designing Musical Sound Effects")

Week 6: Female Dialogue and Sound Design in Video Games

"Largest Study of Video Games Reveals Men Say Twice As Much As Women"

"Sounding Out Sexism in Video Games"

Week 7: Microtransactions in Games

"Are Loot Boxes Gambling?"

"How Microtransactions Impact the Economics of Gaming"

Week 8: Gamification of Everyday Life

"Gamification to improve our world?"

"The Power and Pitfalls of Gamification"

Week 9: Ownership of Physical Media/Emulation

"Subscription services are changing our relationship to gaming"

"Emulation isn't a dirty word"

Week 10: Accessibility in Video Games

"Leveling the Playing Field: Accessible Games for All"

"Virtual Reality Has an Accessibility Problem"

Week 11: AI in Games

"Video games are in for quite a trip"

"Part scary, part exciting"

Week 12: Meaningful Choices in Games

"Meaningful Choice in Games"

"Freedom as Meaningful Choice"