This is an archive of a past course's class materials from 2011. Present "Games & Society" students should look elsewhere to find their coursework; consult your current syllabus for more information.
The designer and intstructor of this lab course, Jason McIntosh, has written notes and commentary about this course which may be of interest to other teachers. You can contact the author at jmac@jmac.org.
Your name (please print clearly!): __________________________________
Answer one of the following questions in a short paragraph or two. (Yes, this is the whole quiz today.)
Forbidden Island is a streamlined version of Pandemic, a game by the same designer. Among other differences, players keep their cards in Pandemic hidden, as if they were Poker hands. Players are allowed to talk about cards all they want; they just can’t show their cards outright. How would this rule change affect gameplay, if applied to Forbidden Island? Why do you think the designer chose to have Forbidden Island use open-handed play instead?
OR
Hearing about your expertise at designing new Dominion cards, Valve Corporation has hired you to help redesign Left 4 Dead. (Hey, it could happen.) They wish to modify the game so that each of the four characters has a unique power. Describe the character-specific powers (or weaknesses?) you'd grant to any two of the game's heroes, and provide a short justification for each. (For reference, the characters include Louis the office worker, Zoey the college student, Francis the tattooed biker, and Bill the old veteran.)