Blog Post 9: Course Reflection

I think my favorite thing I learned was that the same kinds of ideas and mechanics for games can be used across multiple mediums. I didn't know too much about games going into this class- I had a few favorite board games and videogames. I have such an appreciation for the MDA framework and thought that has to go into every aspect of the game. Coming from the animation/illustration background, it combines all the stuff I've learned and then some! You need story, artistry, technology, mechanics... it's one of the hardest and most rewarding things I've ever learned.

Although some of the readings were a bit complicated or wordy, they taught me a lot of valuable things. One of the most interesting discussions I remember from the class is actually defining what a game is. 

There were so many things that I didn’t even realize would factor into the definition, including not serious, not associated with material gain, voluntary, and uncertain. Although I don’t agree with everything it is still very thought provoking! I wrote about games a lot through these blog posts, I had a lot of fun with them. I also didn’t realize how easy it would be to make games- don’t get me wrong, it’s still challenging, but game maker studio was so user friendly and easy to understand that I feel confident I could make some more games over the summer if I wanted to!

This was my first time learning about games in an academic context and there are things I’ve learned that I am going to remember for the rest of my life. Thanks to Professor James Morgan and everyone in my class for an awesome semester! Have a great summer!

Blog Post 8: Final Project

My final project is going to be a video of me and my friends playing a game called One Night Ultimate Werewolf!

My inspiration came from Will Wheaton's Tabletop series. I've watched some Board Game let's plays but I had never seen one so comprehensive until I saw Will Wheaton's. He does a great job explaining the games without being too boring or just reciting the rules. He combines footage of the gameplay with cuts of the mechanics as they come up so that it's not just a bunch of rules at the beginning. It's engaging and interesting the whole time!

I figured I could work off of his model and play a game like the one I linked above. One Night Ultimate Werewolf is my choice because it's relatively easy to understand and doesn't involve too many mechanics. It can also be customized to be easier/harder depending on the cards you decide to include.

I have practiced the game and gotten a good group together. I believe we will have a team with a Werewolf, Seer, Robber, Drunk, Hunter, Masons, and Minion. It seemed to have a dynamic that was still interesting without being too simple or too complicated.

In my video, I plan on explaining the game but then giving the watchers the option of knowing who is who. I will either link to a different video or allow the viewer to click on the screen that will allow them to skip ahead past the "reveal." This is not something I have seen in youtube letsplays, sometimes I am in the mood to know what is going on and other times I want to watch the group dynamics and try to extrapolate the information myself.

Although I haven't filmed it yet, I am very excited to do this video and so are my friends! I plan on explaining some dynamics using the reference page on boardgamegeek. 

I'll update when I have the video made, thanks for reading!