An MIT video game controller. Courtesy of Brett Paci.

Games Studies in MIT OpenCourseWare. Courtesy of Brett Paci.

PAX East, one of the largest gaming events in North America, returns to Boston April 11-13 2014.

While MIT doesn’t have an official game design degree program, it’s consistently ranked as a top school for game design studies. There’s a vital gaming community centered around the renowned MIT Game Lab, and plenty of relevant coursework and research on topics such as:

  • the design and history of games and how people play and learn with games
  • solving the computational and technical challenges of developing digital games
  • psychological games and behavioral change
  • business practices required for creating your own game company

In honor of PAX, and inspired by the Game Lab’s recommendations for MIT students, here’s a selection of MIT’s best game-related courses available online in OCW and MITx.

Game Studies Introductions

Other Recommended Background

Game Design

Practicum: Opportunities to Make Video Games

Writing for Games

Educational Software & Games

Management & Production

Programming & Software Engineering

Art Direction & Visual Design

Audio Design

Culture & Society