ESGS 301 - Game Mechanics and Systems

Credits: (3)
In this course we will investigate the mechanics and systems behind games. We will take up questions such as what mechanics push games towards cooperation versus competition, what design choices cause politicking in games, how can games avoid kingmaking, what is fun and how do games cause it, and many others. We will strive to understand how scholars of various disciplines, along with industry veterans approach these questions as well as to play games that exemplify these ideas. This course will be focused on games as systems of rules and the ways in which those rules create emergent systems of fun. (Spring)