Game Studies on OCW and MITx

Image courtesy of Brett Paci.
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
Inspired by the Game Lab’s recommendations for MIT students, here’s a selection of MIT’s best game-related courses available online from OCW and MITx.
Game Studies Introductions
- CMS.300 Introduction to Videogame Studies
- CMS.600 Videogame Theory and Analysis
- CMS.608 Game Design: Spring 2014 version (with audio lectures) | Fall 2010 version (with audio lectures) | Spring 2008 version
- CMS.611J Creating Video Games (with video lectures)
Other Recommended Background
- 6.00 Introduction to Computer Science and Programming (with video lectures)
- CMS.100 Introduction to Media Studies
- CMS.610 Media Industries and System
- CMS.405 Media and Methods: Seeing and Expression
- CMS.407 Media and Methods: Sound
- ES.268 The Mathematics in Toys and Games
Game Design
- 2.00B Toy Product Design
- 6.831 User Interface Design and Implementation
- MAS.110 Fundamentals of Computational Media Design
- 11.126x Introduction to Game Design (an archived MITx on edX course which ran during Fall 2014)
- 11.127x Design and Development of Games for Learning (an archived MITx on edX course which ran during April/May 2015).
Writing for Games
- 21M.604 Playwriting I
- 21W.765J Interactive & Non-Linear Narrative: Theory & Practice: Spring 2006 version | Spring 2004 version
- 21W.772 Digital Poetry
Educational Software & Games
- 11.127J Computer Games and Simulations for Investigation and Education
- 4.351 Introduction to Video and Related Media
- 9.85 Infant and Childhood Cognition
- MAS.111 Introduction to Doing Research in Media Arts & Sciences
- MAS.714J Technologies for Creative Learning
- MAS.771 Autism Theory and Technology
Management & Production
- 15.279 Management Communication for Undergraduates
- 15.358 The Software Business
- 15.390 New Enterprises
Programming & Software Engineering
- 6.005 Elements of Software Construction
- 6.006 Introduction to Algorithms (with video lectures)
- 6.034 Artificial Intelligence (with video lectures)
- 6.170 Software Studio
- 6.837 Computer Graphics
- 6.946J Classical Mechanics: A Computational Approach
- 21W.789 Communicating with Mobile Technology
Art Direction & Visual Design
- 4.110J Design Across Scales, Disciplines and Problem Contexts
- 4.301 Introduction to the Visual Arts
- 4.341 Introduction to Photography and Related Media
- 4.500 Introduction to Design Computing
- 4.580 Inquiry into Computation and Design
- 21M.732 Costume Design for the Theater
- 21M.734 Design for the Theater: Scenery
- 21M.734 Lighting Design for the Theater
Audio Design
- 6.551J Acoustics of Speech and Hearing
- 21A.360J/STS.065J The Anthropology of Sound
- 21M.065 Introduction to Musical Composition
- 21M.361 Composing with Computers (Electronic Music Composition)
- CMS.876 History of Media and Technology: Sound
Culture & Society
- 21A.350J Cultures of Computing
- 24.222 Decisions, Games and Rational Choice
- CMS.615 Games for Social Change
- CMS.616J Games and Culture
- STS.085 Ethics and the Law on the Electronic Frontier
- STS.360 Ethnography
[Last updated: 25 Jan 2016]
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