Discover the essentials of game design, including required skills, and effective learning paths with Dr. Lewis Pulsipher's insightful introduction to the field.
This course, led by Dr. Pulsipher, offers a no-nonsense intro to game design. It covers the essentials of what game design is all about, the skills you'll need, and where to kick off your journey without fluff. It's like a friendly wake-up call for aspiring game designers!
The truth about what game design is, what you need to be good at it, and how to start out. No dreams, just facts.
This is a brief introduction to game design by Dr. Lewis Pulsipher (see Wikipedia), designer of several published games (e.g. Britannia), retired teacher (computer networking, later game design and game production), and author of the 2012 book "Game Design: How to Create Video and Tabletop Games, Start to Finish" (McFarland).
A much longer and more comprehensive course ("Learning Game Design") is also available on Udemy.
(This course was free in 2013; it has not been free since then.)
Comment from LinkedIn:
"Fantastic course, Dr. Pulsipher. I'm in school for Game Dev (which, of course, does involve programming), and while my last instructor is a veteran in the field, the textbook didn't emphasize the required aptitude for Game Design. This one nails it without sugarcoating it." By Michael Thompson
A recent reviewer (Santiago Eximeno) gave the course 3 stars, so I asked him what I could do to improve it. He said:
"Your course is fabulous. I have given it 3 stars because it's a first step. I really enjoy contents but, as its name says, it's an introduction to game design and I think that a wannabe game designer must continue studying and working on it.
So I don't think that you must improve this course, it's just that for me is a first step and for that I have given it a 3 stars rate.
I'm sure that "Learning Game Design: as a job or a hobby" (I have starting it now) will be great . . ."
And it's certainly true that this course is only a start.
The general goal is to realistically understand the nature of professional game design
Understand what game design is and isn't
Know the best ways to learn how to design games
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Dr. Lewis Pulsipher (Wikipedia: "Lewis Pulsipher"; "Britannia (board game)"; "Archomental" ) is the designer of approaching a dozen commercially published boardgames. His game "Britannia" is described in an Armchair General review "as one of the great titles in the world of games." Britannia was also one of the 100 games highlighted in the book "Hobby Games: the 100 Best". He...
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This was an interesting course, though it wasn't quite what I was expecting. Even though I don't have much interest in creating tabletop games, I did find some of the information useful. It is a brief introduction, as the title suggests, so it is useful as a beginner's class.
Gave me a new prespective on how I should do my game (as am hobby).
Enuyant à mourir... alors que le cours prétend expliquer le game design. L'auteur n'a pas compris l'essence de sa discipline.
Very insightful and informative. Realities of game design can be tough to chew and digest.
This is Dr. Pulsipher's introductory course on Game Design. As such, it does not go into much depth on any particular topic in game design, but it can give you an idea if game design is something you might want to pursue further, and get you pointed in the right direction. Even if you are certain you want to delve into the depths of game design at an advanced level, and plan to take his two-part course on Learning Game Design, it might still be worth taking this course first. There is occasional repetition across some of Dr. Pulsipher's eleven courses, but for the most part each course has plenty of original content not seen elsewhere. Note that all of his Udemy courses have coupon codes listed on his own website (just Google pulsiphergames) ... and a couple of his courses are completely free this way! I have finished nine of his eleven courses so far, and I look forward to any additional courses he may publish in the future.
Why should you take this course (these courses)? Well, the main reason is that Dr. Pulsipher is an experienced game designer that has a wealth of real-world experience and knowledge to share. Some of his game credits include Britannia, Valley of the Four Winds, Dragon Rage, and Sea Kings -- with a couple more hopefully coming out this year. Note that Dr. P is not an entertainer ... he is an educator. So don't expect fanfare, rah-rah-rah, fancy animations, gimmicky presentations, or promises of how to get rich quick by designing games. He will tell you about success stories in the industry like Reiner Knizia, but will warn you that you have a greater chance of winning the lottery than being the next Reiner Knizia. Don't be put off by these cold hard facts ... Dr. Pulsipher tells you ... do game design because you love it, not because you have a pipe dream that you might get rich. Do it because you love it! (Dr. P actually has an entire course called the Joys of Game Design.) So if you want to learn about the nuts and bolts of the actual process of game design, take these courses. Ask questions within the course Q&A section ... he actually answers! To supplement the courses you can read his book, watch his Game Design channel on YouTube, and take advantage of the wealth of knowledge & experience that he has to offer. And in the end, the way you learn game design the most is by actually doing it. Dr. P can't do that for you. You have to do it yourself. As he says (borrowing from Nike): Just do it! Make complete games.
Demystifying but not cynical, work is work.
Excellent overview of game design. Very explicitly lays out what game design is and what it is not. A good overview of anyone wanting to work in the game field. A dose of reality to dreamers who think they have the next great game.
I gave it only 4 stars because there material is repeated in a lot of the 'bonus' material sections (The included talks basically mirror what the prime lectures have, though there are a few additional interesting bits (probably why it was included))
Still a great course. Thanks so much Dr. Pulsipher!
It is not very engaging. It is quite repetitive. I think the message is worth hearing for people who are interested in game design. The content is light...
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Sebastian G. M.
It's amazing on teaching newcomers about the Core needs to make a game, and HOW to do them.