This summer, students who completed the 2006 SMASH Technology course will join an all new class known as The Game Project. The class mixes programming, game theory and project management in an experimental way that allows the student’s passion for interactive media direct the course. One goal of The Game Project is to design a “Serious Game”, which is a game used as an educational/persuasive tool related to a real life issue.

Working as one team, the class will dream-up, pitch, design, document and create a basic prototype of their game concept. Supplementing the group project, each students will become comfortable with game development, including making artwork and programming, by creating simple interactive games. The class meets twice a week on the UC Berkeley Campus and students come equipped with laptops, software, and a playful yet intelligent creative mindset.

The class is lead by Simon Robertson & Trevor Parham, who teach a group of 12 high school students from various schools around the San Francisco Bay Area. Equipped with the experience they’ve used to further their own professional & artistic careers, the two instructors will guide the class through each step of the game design process–focusing on project management, oral presentation skills, the creation of a game design document, and the production of a prototype.

The design process of the group project and each student’s game experiments will be publicly available on the class website. As key decisions about the game are made by the class, the thought processes behind the decisions will be posted to the blog. To better tackle each component of the game development process, the production of the game is split into three departments: Art, Content, and Technical. Each department will be responsible for completing chapters of the Game Design Document.