EST310 / ISE340 Final Review
This online review is intended to be used as a study guide for the final exam.
Here you will find a series of questions related to the material we will have
covered. These questions are representative of the questions that will appear
on the exam. Chapter references correspond to chapters
in Salen & Zimmerman's textbook, Rules of Play.
I strongly suggest that you work with other students in the class
on these questions. That way you can check each other's answers ... and
possibly give one another insights that you might not otherwise have.
Understand the following terms
Be able to define each of the following terms, explaining its relevence to game design. Think of examples that support your explanation.
- Meaningful play (ch. 3)
- Semiotics (ch. 4)
- Interaction (ch. 6)
- Magic circle (ch. 9)
- Degenerate strategy (ch. 21)
- Core mechanic (ch. 23)
- Flow (ch. 24)
Analyze a game
Be able to use each of the following schemas as a way of looking at a game. For each one, think of a game that best illustrates that concept.
- Emergent systems (ch. 14)
- Systems of uncertainty (ch. 15)
- Systems of information (ch. 17)
- Cybernetic systems (ch. 18)
- Systems of conflict (ch. 20)
- Play of meaning (ch. 25)
- Narrative play (ch. 26)
- Play of simulation (ch. 27)
- Social play (ch. 28)
- Cultural rhetoric (ch. 30)
- Open culture (ch. 31)
- Cultural resistance (ch. 32)
- Cultural environment (ch. 33)
Answer general questions
For each of the following, be able to support your answer.
- What is a game?
- What does a game designer do?
- How do digital games differ from other games?
Extra credit questions
- What did you learn in this class?
- How could this class be improved?