Making Community Engaged Games (Fall 2021)

MAKING COMMUNITY ENGAGED GAMES (FALL 2021)

The students in this immersive learning experience were enrolled in CS215: Introduction to Game Design. This course provides a practical introduction to game design using a systems thinking approach, emphasizing the iterative and creative processes used to create engaging games.

The first half of the semester was spent exploring fundamental theories of game design, including an introduction to educational game design. The students devoted their second half of the semester to iterative development of an original game based on the core stories of Minnetrista. George Buss, Jr, Vice President of Visitor Experience at Minnetrista, made several visits to the class to talk about Minnetrista's role in the community and give students feedback on their design ideas.

Contained in this showcase are near-final drafts of many students' final projects, all of which are print-and-play games. That means you can download the files, print them up, and try the games for yourself! The authors' contact information should be provided in each packet in case you would like to send them feedback on their designs. Note that the students' projects will be finalized after the deadline for submission to this online showcase, and so the versions submitted to Minnetrista may vary slightly from what is available here.

The games created by this semester's students will provide the input into next semester's continuation of this immersive project. The Spring team will work with Minnetrista and their faculty mentor to choose the designs most amenable to digital production, and then we will work together to produce an original video game based on these designs.

Instructor: Dr. Paul Gestwicki, Department of Computer Science
CS 215