The State Library of Victoria will be holding a free forum entitled “Get into video games” in Melbourne on Tuesday March 3. A collaboration between Dissecta and the Library, the panel will explore issues such as the appeal of games and how experiences from games can be harnessed and leveraged for other purposes. The event is part of the “Press Play” series, which highlights emerging trends in technology.

Time: Tues 3 March, 6–7.30pm
Venue: Experimedia
Bookings: (p) 03 8664 7099 | (e) bookings [Email address: bookings #AT# slv.vic.gov.au - replace #AT# with @ ]
Cost: Free

I always find it insightful to find case studies of published game designs. I found this case study particularly interesting for a few reasons. First its a case study of a board game, rather than a computer game, so the computation is done by the players rather than the computer and the rules are explicit rather than implicit in a computer/videogame. Second, “Pandemic” is a cooperative game, so player have to work together towards a common goal. And third, its always great to get the evolution of a design from the designer themselves.

This case study traverses many concepts understood within game design such as usability, accessibility, flow and so on. It also tracks the evolution of the boardgame Pandemic - published by Z-Man Games - from its conception. Designer Matt Leacock presents some insightful stuff… yes, some of the usual game design conceptual suspects can be found… but there’s also plenty of added value in here.

Just ensure you have an spare hour to dedicate as the presentation running time is 50 minutes.

Enjoy!

Links
Pandemic http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/30549

Z-Man Games http://www.zmangames.com/