An experimental elective course in video game design for mechanical engineers

Many engineering students are not motivated to learn or apply computer programming in their courses. Partially, this is due to computer science topics being pushed upon them rather than students learning them as needed. A senior-level video game design class was offered as a technical elective. This class combined a “humanities” viewpoint of video game design (e.g., gaming psychology and theory of fun) with the “technical” side of computer programming. Students compared and contrasted two games and wrote a critical analysis of another game. Most of the course was spent conceptualizing, planning and creating a video game. Groups learned the required programming skills as needed to implement their vision. Students completed a survey about their experience in the course. Students found the course exercised their creative skills, motivated them to learn more programming and provided them with experience in project management.