Game and Interactive Media Design

Specialty Area

Game and Interactive Media Design

Content Progression

Game and interactive media design is the process of creating the systems, mechanics, and rules of a digital game and other interactive media, such as two- and three-dimensional animations or simulations. This pathway could be named in many other ways (e.g., Game Design and Development, Digital Innovation and Design). The foundational content for all students includes some learning outcomes related to game and interactive media design. For continued learning beyond the foundation, we have defined the following content progression that includes two additional levels (fundamentals and specialty) that progressively build on this content. This progression may lead to a game design, art, or CS major and a career as, for example, a game developer, graphic designer, producer, game tester, or simulation engineer.

Foundation

Prioritized Foundational Content Specific to Game Design and Development:

Programming basics
Testing and debugging
Inclusive collaboration on projects
Social and ethical impacts
Cybersecurity basics

Fundamentals

Game design
Game, two-dimensional (2D), and three-dimensional (3D) Art
Game Sound
Interactive Design
User Interface
Psychology of Games
Storyboarding
Ethics
A/B testing
Graphical Processing Units (GPUs)
Interaction of physical devices with a program/game (e.g., joysticks, VR headsets)
Accessibility in game design
Inclusivity (broad cultural, religious, gender, physical, cognitive differences)
Social impact (games have power to influence culture, cultural values, and norms)
Physical modeling
Programming (e.g., interaction, navigation, world building)
Human Behavior/Safety in game environments and simulations
Debugging
Game/simulation pathways and careers

Specialty

Character and environment design
Art history and direction
2D and 3D animation
Motion graphics
Simulations
Sound/music history
Encoding analog info (e.g., character state, mood)
Augmented Reality (AR)/Virtual Reality (VR)/Extended Reality (XR)
AI in game design
Object-oriented programming
Physics and states
Controller design
Integrating art and animation
Integrating sound/music
Encoding analog info
Source Control
Team Collaboration
Game development engines

Example Course Pathway

The game and interactive media design content progression can be packaged in a variety of ways to meet the local context and needs of individual schools and districts. This game and interactive media design course pathway serves as an example of how content in this specialty can be implemented in high schools. Each box represents a course and can be expanded to view a corresponding description.

Foundation

see below

Computer Science Foundations

Computer Science Foundations supports all high school students, regardless of postsecondary goals, in developing the knowledge, skills, and dispositions necessary to navigate and understand the technology-driven world in which they live. Course content, organized into five Topic Areas (Algorithms, Programming, Data and Analysis, Computing Systems and Security, and Preparing for the Future), rests upon four Key Pillars (Computational Thinking, Inclusive Collaboration, Human-Centered Design, and Impacts and Ethics). Topic Areas and Pillars are essential components of this course and the student experience (see Section 2 of this report for more details).

Fundamentals

see below

Game Design & Digital Innovation

Game Design and Digital Innovation is an ideal course for students who have a foundational understanding of computer science and a particular interest in applying that knowledge within the context of developing games or other 2D and 3D media, such as simulations. Students will learn aspects of the design process and leverage them in one or more projects of interest. Content covered in this course aligns with fundamentals content from the Game and Interactive Media Design content progression as defined in Section 3.6.

Specialty

see below

Game Development

Game Development is ideal for students who have already taken Game Design and Digital Innovation and have an interest in bringing their designs to life. Students will engage in advanced study of programming and may apply those skills to create games and simulations in traditional, augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and/or extended reality (XR) environments. This course is intended to involve extensive collaboration through an intentional development process. Content covered in this course aligns with specialty content from the Game and Interactive Media Design content progression as defined in Section 3.6.

Software Development

Software Development provides opportunities for extensive study in one or more programming languages, ideally that students have not experienced in previous coursework. Students learn about uses and advantages of particular programming languages and understand commonalities and differences across them. Students will engage in collaborative development processes to solve a problem or address a personal or community need using their programming skills. This course aligns with common first-year postsecondary programming courses (i.e., CS1, including AP CSA). Content covered in this course aligns with specialty content from the Programming content progression as defined in Section 3.1.

Advanced Application

see below

Game and Interactive Media Design Capstone

The Pathway Capstone Course is an opportunity for students to apply advanced computer science knowledge and problem-solving, communication, and collaboration skills to tackle a personally meaningful computing project. Students will design innovative solutions and present them to authentic audiences, preparing them for future academic and professional pursuits. This course is designed to inspire creativity, foster collaboration, and demonstrate proficiency in real-world application of the knowledge, skills, and dispositions developed during prior coursework and experiences.

View the Implementation and Integrating CS pages to learn more about how to teach foundational and specialty content to students.