CSCI 200: Introduction to Game Design

Course Description: Video games have become one of the largest entertainment industries in the world, and the software behind them draws on nearly every area of computer science at once. Modern real-time games have been used not only for entertainment but also in education, simulation, training, and scientific visualization. In this course, we’ll explore how modern 2-D and 3-D interactive games are built, learning the concepts and tools behind them and applying them to develop real, playable games. We’ll cover core areas including graphics, parallel processing, human-computer interaction, networking, artificial intelligence, and software engineering, and see how they come together in a single interactive system. We will also explore real-world applications of game technology and discuss the social and ethical context in which games are developed, marketed, and played.

Semesters Taught

January 2027 course site