If you test positive for Covid – Don’t come to class until you test negative. But let your teacher know and we’ll work to give you access to your missed classes via Zoom.
If you show Covid symptoms OR If you have been exposed to someone with Covid – Don’t come to class for at least 5 days after showing symptoms or exposure, and then take a test to confirm that you are negative. Let your teacher know and we’ll work to give you access to your missed classes via Zoom.
If you have any questions about this, you may call (212-974-8377) or email us ([email protected]).
Video Game Writing 1: Conception
Video Game Writing 1: Conception is an Intensive, meaning it happens in a short time span (1 day in NYC, or 2 days on Zoom, or 3 weeks Online). The course includes a mixture of lectures and exercises. It’s open to writers of any level. Farther down, you can view a syllabus for this course.
If you feel you’re solid with the basics of video game writing, you may go straight to Video Game Writing 2. If you’re in doubt about this, start with Video Game Writing 1; it will be valuable even if some of it is review.
Video games have exploded into our culture (sometimes literally), earning double the annual revenue of movies. They have also become wondrously diverse, ranging from shoot em’ ups like Call of Duty to sophisticated stories like The Last of Us to offbeat indie games. Simple ideas like “avoid ghosts” have evolved into complex storytelling not unlike what you find in literature and drama.
Video games require writers, but they must understand storytelling craft as well as the games’ multidimensional and technical demands. Here you’ll learn about structuring a story, crafting a script, world-building, characters in gameplay, and the intricacies of the medium.
We’ll show you how to write (and create) awesome video games, be it a sweeping epic or a time-killer for your phone.
An analysis of game creation as an art. It opened my eyes, an avid gamer, to a different side of gaming that I knew existed but never thought about the technicalities.
Brian Higgins
middle school teacher
Upcoming Classes
NYC COVID Info
Price
Registration fee $25, paid once per term
3-Week
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Online
Anytime, week-long sessions
Tuition: $175
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One-on-One
Tuition: $695
Syllabus
This course gives an overview of how to conceive a video game script. Course components:
Brief lectures
Writing exercises
New York City/Zoom classes
The syllabus varies from teacher to teacher, term to term. Many topics will be similar to those covered in the Online classes.
Online classes
Week 1
Playing a Story: What’s different about videogame writing? A tour through the various video game genres. Bringing story to game mechanics—goals, objects, actions, space, rules.
Week 2
Creating Characters, Gameplay, and Theme: How theme works. Character goals (extrinsic and intrinsic) and tactics. Merging character and theme with gameplay.
Week 3
Interactive Story Structure: A tour through the various types of game story structure— traditional, multiple ending, branching, modular, and emergent.
Teachers
David Kuelz
David Kuelz has written or consulted for over a dozen videogames, comics, and films, including Starship Commander (Dreamhack 2018: Best VR/AR Experience), AVARIAvs (GDC Play 2018: Best in Play) and Into The Dark: Nakaran (Bit Awards 2018: Mobile Game of the Year). He has spoken spoken at Princeton University, TED, Montalvo Arts Center, and The Srishti Institute of Art, Design, and Technology. He holds a BFA from Pace University.
Read moreDavid Kuelz
David Kuelz
has written or consulted for over a dozen videogames, comics, and films, including Starship Commander (Dreamhack 2018: Best VR/AR Experience), AVARIAvs (GDC Play 2018: Best in Play) and Into The Dark: Nakaran (Bit Awards 2018: Mobile Game of the Year). He has spoken spoken at Princeton University, TED, Montalvo Arts Center, and The Srishti Institute of Art, Design, and Technology. He holds a BFA from Pace University.
