If you love board games, here’s your chance to turn your passion to play into your inspiration to design. Students in this course undertake the challenge of building an original board game. As designers, students must understand the play intent of those who will play their game. Do they play for the story? An opportunity to socialize? Or a workout for their brains? Should the game be abstract, like Checkers, Chess or Go? Or should it have a theme, like Settlers of Catan? Students learn about core game elements and their implications in gameplay, then apply their knowledge in design choices about game rules, objectives, mechanics, and victory conditions. Effective game design requires critical and analytical thinking, empathy and creativity. Ready to get your head in the game?