Subject Area: Media

Understanding what games really are and how they can affect and create audiences is essential knowledge for every media graduate. In this course we focus on the most common types of games that media producers create, serious games. These are games that are used for real-life purposes other than pure entertainment. For example, they might be used for social change, education, training, advertising, or to help people achieve a particular health objective. In this course you will focus on the conceptual design and analysis of serious games. This context will shape an investigation into game aesthetics, learning, affect and engagement. You will also be introduced to the methods and practice of game play-testing. The course does not involve any computer programming or require any previous knowledge in this area aside from skills already developed in the pre-requisite course MDIA1000.