"The Story Game 1" workshop
Tue-Sat, 1st-5th February 2005 Katie Salen, Director of Graduate Studies, Design and Technology Program, Parsons School of Design, New York An intensive exploration of "blue sky" possibilities for storytelling within dynamic media, such as games. The Wild Workshop will take a close look at ways in which our design and research approach to an understanding of narrative can be reshaped and renamed through the design of as-yet-unimagined games. Developing narrative structures that are episodic, open to change, supportive of emergent possibilities, and engaging is no simple task. It requires a tremendously sophisticated understanding of the intersections between player behavior, social contexts, dramatic structure, game rules, and interactive mechanics. The emphasis will be two-fold: understanding the mechanics of storytelling and narrative representation as it relates to designed interaction and dynamic systems, and exploding traditional assumptions about the border between game and story. Participants will examine examples ranging from the design of Live Action Role Playing Games to massively multi-player virtual worlds, from pop-up books to tarot cards, from smart mobs to flash mobs. Students will then work toward developing a game prototype or game research proposal that engages with one or more of the issues emerging from the workshop, and which might be carried into the "Story Game 2" workshop with Ernest Adams for further elaboration. All participants should come prepared to play. Participants should be prepared for intensive work 9-17 on workshop days. |