Game Lab
Exchange semester
During GameLab #1 (the first half of the semester), you will form start-up groups and
work in partnership with fellow students and professionals to concept and pitch your
game in order to convince the judges of its potential.
In Gamelab #2 (the second half of the semester) you will start development
according to production specifications determined by the greenlit projects from
Gamelab #1. By critically assessing your budget, role requirements, technology and
concept you will set up or join a development team.
Course
Project Gamelab #1
Credits
5
Content
In a series of workshops, coaching sessions and presentations you will work your way through
numerous gates in which your concept and business case will be assessed by professionals. During
the course of the project the professionals will not accept various ideas as potential products. This
creates lots of potential for you as an entrepreneurial student since there is a majority of work to fulfill.
By the end of the course the professionals will have accepted a few products for the next phase,
which will be used as input for the development in the following period
Course
Dragon’s Den
Credits
5
In this course you will learn how to turn your initial concept into a viable business case with multiple
stretch goals based on the assets available to you.
Content
You will learn how to pitch your concept and business case to try and convince professional
stakeholders. Apart from that you will also create a concept for a marketing and PR campaign to
promote your game. You will also learn to look at your own work in a critical way and engage in
debates on the choices you made. Besides receiving feedback you will also provide peers with
constructive feedback and challenge their design decisions.
Course
Design Research
Credits
4
The goal of this course is to show how research and design can be integrated in the design of games.
As the goal of any game – be it entertainment or educational – is to realise a certain effect in the end
user by creating a fitting user experience. An important questions thus is: how do we ensure that the
intended effect is actually realised by the game?
Content
In this course, you will take the first steps in answering this question by focusing on so-called
design requirements. These requirements can be determined in different ways – for example through
stakeholders, users, or by identifying functional requirements. However, the end result is always the
same: to formalise and underpin design choices and design assumptions in order to better understand
and, hence, improve the impact on the users.
Course
Job orientation
Credits
1
Content
In a number of workshops, you will be introduced to different styles of job applications. You will begin
to build your professional network, and write a resume as well as a letter of application. Additionally,
you will learn how to how to compile a professional portfolio and how to present it.
Throughout the course, you will have regular meetings with your academic counsellor to discuss your
talents, your portfolio, and the choices you want to make for your internship and/or minor.
Programme (second block):
Course
Project Gamelab #2
Credits
5
In Project Gamelab #2 you will start development according to production specifications determined
by the greenlit projects from Gamelab #1. By critically assessing your budget, role requirements,
technology and concept you will set up or join a development team.
Content
As a professional individual you will provide your team the needed hours and effort to complete the
development of the greenlit concept. This means in most cases you will put in lots of hours to develop
the needed assets and code.
During this course you will receive coaching from professionals on art, production, management and
development. But your fellow group members provide the majority of knowledge in order to finish
development.
In a final demonstration you will showcase to the judges and fellow students. This includes the actual
working product, but also an insight on your production process.
Course
Role specific training lll
Credits
5
In the role-specific training courses, you will be able to deepen out one of the specific GDD-roles (e.g.,
game designer, game artist, and game developer) throughout the second year.
Content
We start out with a general introduction to the phase of game production. In the first few weeks of the
course you will dive into production methods from the perspective of your role. After these first weeks,
there will be weekly assignments and lectures in which you need to both practice your specific roleskills and reflect through the theory on the work developed. In the final weeks the course will consist
of both support as well as critical analyses of the ongoing project.
The topics in this role-specific training are:
• Game Designer: Innovation & Monetization
• Game Artist: Efficient Art Production
Game Developer: Efficient Code Production
Course
Does it work?
Credits
5
Content
Design research is crucial for making an effective game, particularly in the design and evaluation
phases of the design cycle. In this course, you will learn how to combine theory, design, and
evaluation in setting up a quantitative evaluation of your game.
The results are presented in the form of an academic report, highlighting the strong points of the
game. You will be trained to support your academic writing with oral English skills to be fully able to
get your game project across.
Contact details
HAN-0636
For questions about the content of this programme, please contact Mr. Niels van der Heide:
E [email protected]
T +31 (0)50 595 2724