Digital Games
Undergraduate course
- ECTS credits
- 15
- Teaching semesters Spring
- Course code
- DIKULT216
- Number of semesters
- 1
- Teaching language
- English
- Resources
- Schedule
- Reading list
Course description
Objectives and Content
Digital games have grown into a form of culture and human interaction that is a crucial part of our social life and current media landscape. While multidisciplinarity is an inherent characteristic of game studies, this course introduces the students to the humanities-based approaches to digital games, including questions such as: How have digital games come to the position they occupy in culture today? How can digital games and play be understood and analyzed as forms of communication and meaning making? What kind of role do digital games play in our everyday practices as well as in cultural and societal debates? The emphasis is thus on how games generate meanings and reflect or subvert wider social and cultural discourses.
As such, the aim of the course is to create a multidimensional picture of the research conducted in this area and provide an in-depth discussion on the key concepts and methods of game studies.
The students will focus on the analysis of digital games through a game design task with a written, reflective component. This task can focus on, for instance, interactivity, player agency, rhetorics, or narrative qualities of digital games.
Learning Outcomes
Knowledge
The student has knowledge of…
• The multiple dimensions of digital games as distinctive subjects of research and analysis
• Different theoretical and conceptual traditions in game studies
• The key genres and works of digital games as well as contemporary means of designing them
Skills
The student can…
• Identify how different research traditions in game studies aim to produce various forms of
knowledge
• Follow and assess the argumentation of existing research, and define and employ selected key
concepts
• Define and analyze different aspects of digital games and play in their various forms
• Design a game specifically for digital environment and apply course knowledge and expertise in the design
General competence
The student can…
• Conduct critical literature reviews relating to specific questions in digital game studies
• Reflect upon their own academic writing and/or creative practice and use feedback to improve their work
• Use creative strategies for conveying academic content.
ECTS Credits
Level of Study
Semester of Instruction
Place of Instruction
Required Previous Knowledge
Recommended Previous Knowledge
Credit Reduction due to Course Overlap
Access to the Course
Teaching and learning methods
There are twenty weeks in a semester, where ten weeks usually have classes. The classes typically involve a combination of lectures, discussions, and workshops focusing on game design tasks and accessible game design tools. The students may also be assigned tasks such as doing literature search and review on a specific topic or critically evaluating the suitability of certain concepts to specific case studies. The class schedule will be available by the beginning of the semester.
It is important for students to attend the orientation session early in the semester, before the teaching begins.
Students are expected to work 18 hours per week on the course from the beginning until the end of the teaching period, including weeks with no scheduled classes. These hours should be used for lectures and working on course-related tasks, such as readings, written assignments, and discussion groups. During the teaching-week weeks, students are expected to use this time for reading course materials, completing assignments, and preparing for the final assessment.
If fewer than five students register for the course, the department may offer reduced tuition. Please refer to the department’s guidelines on Mitt UiB for more information. In this case, students will be notified before the semester registration deadline.
Compulsory Assignments and Attendance
Attendance is compulsory for everything the course covers. Course participation is approved by the course coordinator. If a student exceeds 25% in absences, they will not be eligible to take the exam. Students are encouraged to keep track of their own attendance.
To be eligible to take the exam, the student must complete 3-6 assignments, one of which will be a game design proposal for the final assessment. Deadlines for these will be provided at the start of the semester. Each assignment is assessed as either "approved" or "not approved".
All assignments must be completed and approved within the semester of teaching before the student becomes eligible to take the exam.
Forms of Assessment
The course is concluded with a portfolio which comprises of an entirely self-made digital game and a reflective essay of 1,500 words that sets the game in a critical context.
Only one grade will be given for the final assessment.
Students can take the assessment either in English or Norwegian.
Grading Scale
Assessment Semester
Reading List
The course material typically includes books or articles that are available in bookstores or digital compendiums or will be freely accessible online. Video recordings and other media may also be included in the syllabus; these will either be available online or shown during the course.
The required course materials are typically in English. However, students may use and reference sources in other languages for assignments and exams.
The list of compulsory and recommended readings, as far as available in advance, will be posted on Mitt UiB before the start of the semester and updated as necessary. The readings will be available at Akademika or as downloadable e-books or articles.
Students are also expected to familiarize themselves with additional relevant academic materials through the library, online academic sources, and independent research on the topic.