English Major Senior Seminar on Games and Interactive Narrative
Jennifer Grouling, Ph.D., Department of English, Ball State University
Course Type: Senior Seminar for English majors
Keywords: Capstone Project, Contract Grading, Transmedia, Analog Games
| University | Department | Level | Credits | Length | Medium |
| Ball State | English | Undergraduate | 3 | 16 Weeks | In-person |
Course Description
This course combines your skills in creative writing, professional writing, and analysis to study interactive narrative in games. We will read about writing for the game industry. You will apply what you have learned in a collaborative project to create a board game, role-playing game, or interactive fiction.
As a senior seminar, you will develop a capstone project based on the theme of the course and your specialty within English Studies. You will conduct an analysis of a game, design a game pitch or script, or develop teaching materials that incorporate gaming.
Weekly Outline
Game Analysis
- Introduction to Course & Studying Games
- Interactive Fiction
- Board Game Narratives
- Tabletop Role-playing Games
- Writing a Game Analysis
Game Design
- Transmedia Storytelling
- Working in Game Design Teams
- Developing a Game Pitch
- Writing a Game Design Document
- Writing Game Rules
- Creating a Prototype & Conducting a Playtest
- Accessible and Inclusive Game Design
- Playtests Conducted
- Applying Feedback and Revising
Wrap Up
- Game Design & Your English Major
- Final Reflections & Projects
Course Objectives
- Plan and produce an extended individual research project related to your area of English studies
- Reflect on your learning as an English major
- Engage with the topic of narrative and gaming through reading material and discussion
- Analyze an example of interactive fiction or game narrative
- Apply knowledge of gaming and narrative to the production of game materials
- Collaborate effectively as part of a game design team.
Weekly Outline(Structure)
| Mondays (Class) | Wednesday (Class) | Friday (No Class) |
| Readings & Discussion | Application & Group Work | Progress Reports/Independent work on your capstone project |
Reading
- Booth, P. (2014). Playing dead: Transmedia pathos and plot in The Walking Dead board games. Intensities: The Journal of Cult Media 7, 20–35. (PDF)
- Breault, M. (2020). Narrative Design: The Craft of Writing for Games. CRC Press. (Textbook)
- Fernandez-Vara, C. (2019). Introduction to Game Analysis. 2nd Ed. Routledge. (Textbook)
- Heron, M. J., Belford, P., Reid, H., Crabb, M. (2018). Meeple Centred Design – a Heuristic Toolkit for Evaluating the Accessibility of Tabletop Games. The Computer Games Journal, 7(2), 1-18. (Digital Journal)
- Jacklin, K. (2011). The art of keeping game design simple. Tabletop Analog Game Design, p. 55-59. (PDF)
- Jenkins, H. (2004). Games as narrative architecture. Available online https://web.mit.edu/~21fms/People/henry3/games&narrative.html. (Digital Link)
- Jones, S. (2020). An analysis of gender-inclusive language and imagery in top-ranked board game rulebooks. Analog Game Studies. (Digital Journal)
- Pulsipher, L. (2012) Game Design. McFarland & Co, Inc. (Excepts from book)
- Yucel, I. (2014). Rules for writing rules: How instructional design impacts good game design. Analog Game Studies. (Digital Journal)
IDN Artifacts
- Phototopia [parser-based interactive fiction game]
- 9:05 [parser-based interactive fiction game]
- The Play [Twine interactive fiction game]
- Betrayal at House on the Hill [board game]
- T.I.M.E. Stories [board game]
- Near & Far [board game]
- Alice is Missing [tabletop role-playing game]
- Dungeons & Dragons [tabletop role-playing game]
- The Quiet Year [tabletop role-playing game]
IDE and IDN Authoring Tools
- Twine (IDN Authoring Tool)
Major Assignments (being assignments whose value is of 25% or more)
Game Design
- Platform: Interactive Fiction on Twine, Tabletop Role-Playing Module, or Board Game
- Purpose: To apply knowledge of gaming and narrative to the production of game materials, to collaborate effectively as a part of a game design team
- Requirements: Requirements for this project are framed in terms of the following deliverables at different parts of the game design process.
- Group Contract: A plan for the group including designation of group member roles.
- Concept Document: Based on Breault’s format, this includes information about the game being proposed including the way it uses the original story
- Playtest Report: Includes an overview of how the playtest was conducted, the results of the playtest, the immediate action items, and the long-term ideas for revision
- Final Game: The groups submit a complete Twine story, TRPG module or Board Game
- Evaluation: Evaluation for this project is based heavily on process with four individual criteria and three group criteria.
- Participation: Did the individual attend group meetings and participate regularly?
- Adherence to Group Contract: Did the group member complete the work assigned by the group and communicate as per the group contract?
- Roll Fulfillment: How well did the group member accomplish the role they were assigned within the group?
- Engagement in Game Design Process: Did the group member participate in each stage of the game design process, providing feedback or taking a lead as needed?
- Game Revisions: Did the group make meaningful revisions after the playtest? Do they have ideas for more substantive revisions?
- Game Medium: Did the group make strong use of the affordances of their assigned medium to make something unique (not a skin of an existing game)?
- Game Story: Did the story of the game evoke the original story while adding new elements to the create a transmedia text?
Individual Capstone Project
This is an individual capstone research project that is designed by the student. I have created a Twine Assignment Game available on Itch.Io: https://gwenifyre.itch.io/eng-444-capstone-project-s23
- Purpose: To plan and produce an extended individual research project related to your area of English studies that engages with the course theme of games.
- Requirements:
- Proposal & Conference: Students turn in a proposal and conference with me to develop their project including their own requirements for the project.
- Progress Reports: Students plan for five progress reports over the course of the semester where they will turn in a draft of something for their capstone project.
- Final Deliverables: These vary by student but must include some representation of the research conducted, such as an annotated bibliography or reflective piece.
- Evaluation: An individual grading contract for each project is developed from a student-instructor conference and modified as needed. Contracts includes the following sections:
- My Capstone Project Goals
- My Deliverables
- My Progress Reports
- A A-Range Project will…
- A C-Range Project will…
- Signature Line
Game Analysis
- Platform: Written Essay or Video
- Purpose: To analyze an example of interactive fiction or game narrative
- Requirements:
- Project Size: 4-5 written pages or 4-5 minutes of video
- Skills: Summary of a game, application of readings and theories on games, analysis and use of examples from the game.
- Evaluation:
- Summary: Project shows an understanding of the game and is able to summarize for an external audience
- Analysis: Analysis provides specific examples to support conclusions
- Application: The project applies specific theories or concepts about games and narratives covered in class.
Course Best Practices
- Common gaming experiences that can be discussed in groups or as a whole class
- Clear role definitions for the game design teams
- Defined days to work in game design teams
- Student agency in developing a capstone project based on their experience and expertise
- Alternative grading structures based on process goals, and student individual goals.