Design Board Games for Socio-Political Change

496 enrolled on this course

3 weeks
3 hours per week
Digital certificate when eligible
Open level

Find out more about how to join this course

Turn social events into social change with board games that engage and educate

Board games naturally support social interaction, and are often a reflection of a culture’s values and beliefs. They also happen to be one of today’s fastest-growing hobbies.

With all that in mind, it makes sense that playing board games can affect what individuals think about important issues. And it follows that these games have the power to foster political and social change.

On this three-week course from the renowned Abertay University School of Design and Informatics, you’ll gain skills to analyse the use of board games in socio-political debates and learn how to develop your own game design concept.

Deconstruct and understand the basics of board games

Before you start working on games for social change you’ll learn the fundamentals, processes,and techniques of good design.

You’ll play, analyse, and deconstruct existing games that were developed to benefit society, and will see their potential as a way to encourage activism for political change, climate action, and other important causes.

Once you understand the theory behind producing board games that encourage socio-political reforms, you’ll get a chance to do it yourself.

Not only will you get to develop your own concepts, but you’ll also gain extra insights from the constructive feedback that you get from and give to your peers.

Learn from the best board game design experts

The School of Design and Informatics at Abertay University is the United Kingdom’s Centre of Excellence for Computer Games Education.

Their award-winning courses are widely renowned, and you’ll get to take advantage of all this expertise and support as you create board games to make the world a better place.

Syllabus

Week 1
Intro to Games for Change - Play
- Course overview
  In this activity we will introduce ourselves and outline what we will be teaching on this course.
- Understanding Games for Change
  In this activity we will look at what games for change actually are with Hadi then interview two games researchers who use games to effect real-world change.
- Let's play some Games for Change
  The best way to learn about games for change is to play them. In this activity we play a game and discuss it before inviting you to play and analyse some games yourself.
- Summary of this week
  In this activity we review what we have learnt this week.
Week 2
Analysing games we play - Deconstruct
- Analysing Games and Play
  In this activity we begin our investigation of how games are constructed we are going to introduce a framework for analysing game design and talk about the act of playing. We also speak to Tim Cullings about games for change.
- What Goes Into A Game?
  In this activity we look at the makeup of games, specifically what games are and what goes into them. We investigate some game mechanics and invite you to carry out some independent research.
- How do we immerse our players?
  In this activity we look at how we can bring players into our game worlds and allow them to inhabit the characters involved so we can best deliver our game's message.
- Narrative Design
  A key feature of games are the stories they tell. In this activity we look at how to effectively tell stories through games.
- Summary
  In this activity we look back at all that was learnt in week 2 and review the key content.
Week 3
Bringing it all together - Conceptualise
- Intro to week 3
  In this activity we will be reviewing weeks 1 and 2, outlining the plan for week 3 and discussing the ethics of games for change, including a chat with technology ethicist Catherine Flick and local developer Darroch McNaught.
- Game design peer review
  In this activity you will create your own game for change. Then you will review the work of your peers. But first, we give a demonstration of how we would go about it.
- In summary
  Final remarks

When would you like to start?

Start straight away and join a global classroom of learners. If the course hasn’t started yet you’ll see the future date listed below.

Available now

Learning on this course

On every step of the course you can meet other learners, share your ideas and join in with active discussions in the comments.

What will you achieve?

By the end of the course, you‘ll be able to...

Demonstrate the application of skills to classify, analyse and deconstruct games
Explore and reflect on the wider social, political and cultural aspects of games
Explore the potential of games as powerful media to foster discussion and debate
Collaborate with peers to develop constructive feedback on games
Develop documents that transform ideas into game design concepts

Who is the course for?

This course is designed for anyone interested in board game design, especially as a tool to create political or social change. No prior knowledge is required, but a genuine love of board games will make the course even more enjoyable and meaningful.

Who developed the course?

Abertay University

Abertay is a global leader in computer games education.


Ways to learn	Buy this course	Subscribe & save	Limited access
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	Fulfill your current learning need	Develop skills to further your career	Sample the course materials
Access to this course	tick	tick	Access expires 27 Oct 2024
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Discuss your learning in comments	tick	tick	tick
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	Continue & Upgrade
		Cancel for free anytime

Ways to learn

Choose the best way to learn for you!

Subscribe & save

$244.99 for a whole year

Automatically renews

Develop skills to further your career

Access to this course
Access to 1,000+ courses
Learn at your own pace
Discuss your learning in comments
Tests to boost your learning
Digital certificate when you're eligible

Cancel for free anytime

Buy this course

$109/one-off payment

Fulfill your current learning need

Access to this course
Learn at your own pace
Discuss your learning in comments
Tests to boost your learning
Printed and digital certificate when you’re eligible

Continue & Upgrade

Limited access

Free

Sample the course materials

Access expires 27 Oct 2024

Find out more about certificates, Unlimited or buying a course (Upgrades)

Sale price available until 31 October 2024 at 23:59 (UTC). T&Cs apply.

Find out more about certificates, Unlimited or buying a course (Upgrades)

Sale price available until 31 October 2024 at 23:59 (UTC). T&Cs apply.

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