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Games & Playfulness (CCDP10001)

Undergraduate level 1Points: 12.5Not available in 2018

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Overview

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Play is fundamental to the human condition. This breadth unit seeks to unpack the nature of games and playfulness within the everyday. By playing, analysing and creating games, the subject unpacks these various elements and encourages students to take a ‘hands on’ approach in reflecting upon the creative and playful aspects of both their everyday life and their chosen discipline. It considers the interactions between play and culture; how playfulness binds communities and how culture determines both the structure and content of play. Though there are some references to the videogame industry, the subject is not simply a valorisation of this history. Rather it looks at the rise, fall and rise again of public playfulness and the ways in which the medium has both industrialised and democratised. The subject aims to encourage student to explore what games can be, rather than what they currently are.

Intended learning outcomes

At the completion of this unit, students should



  • Understand the notions of play, playfulness and games
  • Understand the history of play and games theory
  • Understand how to read play elements within their daily lives
  • Develop skills for making and inventing simple and complex games for both individual and collective engagement
  • Develop the skills to explore the play elements of their chosen discipline

Generic skills

At the end of this course, students should

  • Have a degree of competence in recognising play elements in culture
  • Have competencies in understanding the play elements in their chosen disciplines
  • Be able to recognise playful and game-based elements in their discipline and work with them
  • Understand play and games as forms of problem solving
  • Understand the history and roles of play and games in culture
  • Be able to make and design simple games.

Last updated: 17 May 2024

Eligibility and requirements

Prerequisites

None

Corequisites

None

Non-allowed subjects

None

Inherent requirements (core participation requirements)

The University of Melbourne is committed to providing students with reasonable adjustments to assessment and participation under the Disability Standards for Education (2005), and the Assessment and Results Policy (MPF1326). Students are expected to meet the core participation requirements for their course. These can be viewed under Entry and Participation Requirements for the course outlines in the Handbook.

Further details on how to seek academic adjustments can be found on the Student Equity and Disability Support website: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/student-equity/home

Last updated: 17 May 2024

Assessment

Additional details

ASSIGNMENT 1 (1000 word paper), due in Week 5 (30%)

Creative task – Describe a problem in your discipline and propose a playful solution

OR

Research task – Research and describe a playful aspect within the history of your discipline.

ASSIGNMENT 2 MIXED MEDIA ASSIGNMENT (3000 words or equivalent), due 2 weeks after Week 12 (70%)

Use the concepts covered in class to design and describe a project that is new and playful. Concepts include input/output, affordances, architecture, poetic motion, narrative, systems etc. Ideas and concepts to be fully referenced.

Last updated: 17 May 2024

Dates & times

Not available in 2018

Time commitment details

170 hours

Last updated: 17 May 2024

Further information

Last updated: 17 May 2024