General provisions

The course is part of the Master's Programme in Game Design, 120 credits, and 60 credits.

Entry requirements

A Bachelor's degree, equivalent to a Swedish Kandidatexamen, from an internationally recognised university. Proficiency in English equivalent to the Swedish upper secondary course English 6.

Learning outcomes

After completing the course, the student should be able to:

• Identify theories and methods within the field of critical HCI, game design, and social justice,
• Assess and compare theories and methods for practical use in game design,
• Apply theories and methods in game design practice,
• Develop an independent research project with a social justice goal of their choice.

Content

This course provides an introduction to critical game making, on advanced level. It familiarises students with interdisciplinary theories and methods from HCI (Human Computer Interaction), game design and social justice. The students engage in conversation with different critical ideas from cultural studies, HCI and design. Working in groups, they develop an applied understanding of these ideas by carrying out research through design tasks. For their final project, the students deepen this understanding through an independent research project with a social justice goal of their choice.

Instruction

The course is given as a series of workshops, lectures and seminars.

Assessment

The course is graded on the basis of "Pass with Distinction", "Pass", or "Fail". The basis for the assessment is through assignments, active participation in seminars, and a written final assignment. The assessment is also based on the students' application of theories and methods in practice-based work, their oral performance in seminars such as participating in in-course playtesting and peer-critique sessions.

If there are special reasons for doing so, an examiner may make an exception from the method of assessment indicated and allow a student to be assessed by another method. An example of special reasons might be a certificate regarding special pedagogical support from the University's disability coordinator.