Game Design (July)

About

The future of games is brighter than ever. More accessible and powerful design software has provided creators from a wider range of backgrounds with the tools to express themselves for an expanding audience of game players around the world. As the games industry continues to grow ever more inclusive, the value of such new voices has never been higher.

This multidisciplinary course can be considered a crash course in the many ways game design can be utilised as a creative and rewarding medium. You will be presented with artistic and technical aspects of game design as you develop your own games. The practical and theoretical foundations of game design are explained across a series of lectures, supported with insights from industry and research. A parallel set of prototyping workshops covers a wide range of game design tools.

The course is open to any student interested in the topic, and no previous experience in game design or programming is required. The course is focused on low-code/no-code tools and independent work. By taking this course, you will learn about the art of game design and how to harness its power to transform your own ideas into unique, playful game prototypes.

Course leader

Edward Morrell is a doctoral researcher at Aalto University's Department of Art and Media, where he researches experimental game design through various artistic contexts. Edward is a member of Aalto Online Learning's Online Hybrid Lab, working on the research and development of educational games and related environments. His work has been published in venues such as the Digital Games Research Association and the Foundations of Digital Games Conference.

Target group

This course does not require previous experience in the topic.

You must have completed a high school or vocational degree or equivalent by the time the course starts. However, you do not have to be a degree student at a university to participate in our courses.

Additionally, all summer school course students must be 18 years or older, as it is the legal age in Finland.

Course aim

Discover the potential of games as an expressive medium
Learn about the art and craft of game design from the traditional to the contemporary
Explore a range of accessible game design and development software
Develop the ability to translate ideas into prototypes quickly
Utilise digital assets to complement individual or group projects
Understand the variety of roles within the games industry and the paths that lead there

Fee info