Description of Major Assignments
Board Game Blog, 20%
Writing about board games takes practice, so I want you to keep a blog about board games. Here are the steps for doing so:
1. Play 1-2 Board Games at least 2x each
You may either play the games on Board Game Arena or with me and classmates during Board Game Hour (IRL Club). I will check to make sure you are playing the assigned games.
2. Blog 300+ words on each game you played
The blog entry can be a brief analysis, discussion, or investigation into one of the board games for the week. Relate it to your everyday life, talk about the rhetorical decisions the game designers make, talk about how well the rules/design of them game function, talk about your experience playing the game.
3. Respond to your peer’s blogs, 250+
You will be doing this 10x from week 3-13. Blog posts will be due most Mondays at 6pm. By the end of the semester you will have 15 posts and 10 responses.
Each blog worth 75 points x 15 = 1125 points
Playing games each week worth 25 points x 15 = 375 points
Each response worth 50 points x 10 = 500 points
------------------------------------
Total 2000 points
1. Play 1-2 Board Games at least 2x each
You may either play the games on Board Game Arena or with me and classmates during Board Game Hour (IRL Club). I will check to make sure you are playing the assigned games.
2. Blog 300+ words on each game you played
The blog entry can be a brief analysis, discussion, or investigation into one of the board games for the week. Relate it to your everyday life, talk about the rhetorical decisions the game designers make, talk about how well the rules/design of them game function, talk about your experience playing the game.
3. Respond to your peer’s blogs, 250+
You will be doing this 10x from week 3-13. Blog posts will be due most Mondays at 6pm. By the end of the semester you will have 15 posts and 10 responses.
Each blog worth 75 points x 15 = 1125 points
Playing games each week worth 25 points x 15 = 375 points
Each response worth 50 points x 10 = 500 points
------------------------------------
Total 2000 points
Paper 1: Board Game Breakdown, 25%
Length: 5-7 Pages, 2 Page Process Memo
Sources: None required. If you do use other sources, cite them using MLA format.
Final Due Date: September 25
When creating new games, designers are constantly making choices about what building blocks they want to include in games, what message they want to send with the game, and what lessons they want players to learn.
For this assignment you will analyze those building blocks, called rhetorical devices, of a single board game to create a coherent thesis about what lesson the game teaches. Here are the three steps for this assignment:
1. Identify the rhetorical choices that the game designers made, and think about why they made those choices. The following is a partial list of some of the important rhetorical devices used in board games:
● Genre: What genre is this game in? (for a list of games genres, see Board Game Geek's Categories) What type of crowd does this genre attract?
● Color: What do the colors say about the game's tone, audience, and purpose?
● Packaging: How big or small is the box, the cards, the board, etc? Is it easily-transportable or not?
● Visuals: Does the game include images, iconography, or other visual elements? How do these visuals direct, attract, or influence player's thought?
● References: Does the game make cultural references, either to contemporary popular culture or a specific culture of the past? Why are those references important?
● Title: What is the title and what does it mean? What is the font on the game and the font of the title (can you identify it? if not, can you describe it?)? How does this attract potential players?
● Text: Is there a lot of text or a little text in the game? How does this attract players, and what sort of players does this attract?
● Story: Is there a story associated with the game? If so, how do the game's mechanics mesh with the story of the game? Could the game function without the story? Does the story attract certain players? Is the game an adaptation from some other media?
● Rules/Mechanics: How does the game work (for a list of game mechanics see Board Game Geek's List of Mechanics)? What does the game teach its players (is it fiercely or lightly competitive, cooperative, or a sandbox game)? How long does the game last?
● Purpose: Does the game have a specific purpose (like to teach some skill or language or brain function)? If so, what is it, and how does the game teach this?
2. As the questions above imply, we will be focusing on the audience of the game, too, in this paper. Provide an in-depth analysis of ONE intended audience and the ways in which that audience may relate to the text. By one intended audience, I mean a single demographic, such as adolescent girls, fans of a specific TV show, working mothers, stay at home dads, a specific race, etc. How does the game that you chose intellectually or emotionally appeal to its intended audience? How does it use visual and/or textual rhetoric to capture and sustain that audience’s interest and imagination?
3) Consider your experiences with or reactions to the game. This should help you to formulate a coherent thesis as to what the game is doing, and will also make the essay more personable for readers.
Remember, no detail is too miniscule not to mean something.
This paper will go through three drafts before you turn in the final. The first and third drafts will be read for peer response. For the second draft we will have individual conferences, where you meet with me one on one to discuss your progress.
Your final draft should be 5-7 double spaced pages and should include a Works Cited page where you cite the board game you chose. You do not need to include research in this paper, but if you feel the need to incorporate any outside sources, please cite them in your paper. However, I would prefer that most of the “research” here take place inside your own minds.
Sources: None required. If you do use other sources, cite them using MLA format.
Final Due Date: September 25
When creating new games, designers are constantly making choices about what building blocks they want to include in games, what message they want to send with the game, and what lessons they want players to learn.
For this assignment you will analyze those building blocks, called rhetorical devices, of a single board game to create a coherent thesis about what lesson the game teaches. Here are the three steps for this assignment:
1. Identify the rhetorical choices that the game designers made, and think about why they made those choices. The following is a partial list of some of the important rhetorical devices used in board games:
● Genre: What genre is this game in? (for a list of games genres, see Board Game Geek's Categories) What type of crowd does this genre attract?
● Color: What do the colors say about the game's tone, audience, and purpose?
● Packaging: How big or small is the box, the cards, the board, etc? Is it easily-transportable or not?
● Visuals: Does the game include images, iconography, or other visual elements? How do these visuals direct, attract, or influence player's thought?
● References: Does the game make cultural references, either to contemporary popular culture or a specific culture of the past? Why are those references important?
● Title: What is the title and what does it mean? What is the font on the game and the font of the title (can you identify it? if not, can you describe it?)? How does this attract potential players?
● Text: Is there a lot of text or a little text in the game? How does this attract players, and what sort of players does this attract?
● Story: Is there a story associated with the game? If so, how do the game's mechanics mesh with the story of the game? Could the game function without the story? Does the story attract certain players? Is the game an adaptation from some other media?
● Rules/Mechanics: How does the game work (for a list of game mechanics see Board Game Geek's List of Mechanics)? What does the game teach its players (is it fiercely or lightly competitive, cooperative, or a sandbox game)? How long does the game last?
● Purpose: Does the game have a specific purpose (like to teach some skill or language or brain function)? If so, what is it, and how does the game teach this?
2. As the questions above imply, we will be focusing on the audience of the game, too, in this paper. Provide an in-depth analysis of ONE intended audience and the ways in which that audience may relate to the text. By one intended audience, I mean a single demographic, such as adolescent girls, fans of a specific TV show, working mothers, stay at home dads, a specific race, etc. How does the game that you chose intellectually or emotionally appeal to its intended audience? How does it use visual and/or textual rhetoric to capture and sustain that audience’s interest and imagination?
3) Consider your experiences with or reactions to the game. This should help you to formulate a coherent thesis as to what the game is doing, and will also make the essay more personable for readers.
Remember, no detail is too miniscule not to mean something.
This paper will go through three drafts before you turn in the final. The first and third drafts will be read for peer response. For the second draft we will have individual conferences, where you meet with me one on one to discuss your progress.
Your final draft should be 5-7 double spaced pages and should include a Works Cited page where you cite the board game you chose. You do not need to include research in this paper, but if you feel the need to incorporate any outside sources, please cite them in your paper. However, I would prefer that most of the “research” here take place inside your own minds.
Paper 2: Board Games in Culture, 30%
Length: 7-9 Pages, 2 Page Prospectus, 2 Page Process Memo, Works Cited
Minimum of 6 Sources: 2 must be scholarly, 2 must be non-web sources
In the first paper, you spent time thinking about the parts of a board game to discuss how it is functioning as a text. This second paper will have you explore a board game, board gaming groups, or some other board game related topic in light of broader cultural issues.
Here are the steps to completing this paper:
1. Choose a board game related topic. You may come up with your own, or you may pick one from the list of board game topics I provide. Make sure to pick a topic that you are interested in, one that you don't mind spending a lot of time researching.
2. Write a 2 Page Proposal about why you want to write on the topic you've chosen. For the proposal, I want you to include at least 2 sources that you've already found about the topic, one of which must be scholarly. Pretend, in your proposal, that you are writing to a magazine editor, trying to convince her/him that she/he should publish your article. I will approve or disapprove of your topic based on the scope of the project (it must not be too big or too large) and the research out there.
3. Research, Research, Research Your next step is to do research. You must end up with a total of at least 6 sources, though I imagine you will end up with more than that in many cases. I want you to do research in a few ways:
● Scholarly Sources: In the beginning of this process, we'll be vising the library, where we'll learn about how to find and manage scholarly sources.
Find at least 2 scholarly sources from a database that we look at (or another database) that can contribute to your paper. Remember, you may have to
● Web Sources: This part is not required, but looking at message boards, forums, gaming websites, game publisher websites, and other sites will probably be helpful to your research. However, please make sure that the information on the site is appropriate to your topic (we will discuss how to evaluate websites in a class period).
● Print Sources: There are tons of excellent books about the history of board games, board game design, board game culture, etc. Use them. I'll try to have a few on reserve in the library for you.
● Interviews: If you can find somebody to interview about your topic, that is always excellent and I strongly suggest that you include an interview if appropriate. However, please do not use an interview of a family member or close friend (without my prior approval).
● Primary Texts: Although these will not count as a source, you should be analyzing the board game or board games (or other primary texts depending on your topic) at hand, using the rhetorical analysis skills we learned in the first paper to broaden the depth of your paper.
● Videos, Audio, and other Multimedia: Feel free to use Youtube videos or podcasts from the interwebs in your paper. This does count as a source (but not a scholarly source).
4. Rough Drafts: We will be going through three drafts in class: two workshops with your peers and one conference with me. I expect that you will be working hard in revision -- this assignment will require a lot of revision, research, and more revision, and more research. Please do not be scared to scrap entire pages or paragraphs, to reword or revise your thesis, or even to change the whole structure or process of your writing.
5. Final Draft: Your final draft will be 7-9 pages and will include a works cited page (that does not count toward the 7 page minimum). You also will include a Process Memo that will be at least 2 pages long.
Minimum of 6 Sources: 2 must be scholarly, 2 must be non-web sources
In the first paper, you spent time thinking about the parts of a board game to discuss how it is functioning as a text. This second paper will have you explore a board game, board gaming groups, or some other board game related topic in light of broader cultural issues.
Here are the steps to completing this paper:
1. Choose a board game related topic. You may come up with your own, or you may pick one from the list of board game topics I provide. Make sure to pick a topic that you are interested in, one that you don't mind spending a lot of time researching.
2. Write a 2 Page Proposal about why you want to write on the topic you've chosen. For the proposal, I want you to include at least 2 sources that you've already found about the topic, one of which must be scholarly. Pretend, in your proposal, that you are writing to a magazine editor, trying to convince her/him that she/he should publish your article. I will approve or disapprove of your topic based on the scope of the project (it must not be too big or too large) and the research out there.
3. Research, Research, Research Your next step is to do research. You must end up with a total of at least 6 sources, though I imagine you will end up with more than that in many cases. I want you to do research in a few ways:
● Scholarly Sources: In the beginning of this process, we'll be vising the library, where we'll learn about how to find and manage scholarly sources.
Find at least 2 scholarly sources from a database that we look at (or another database) that can contribute to your paper. Remember, you may have to
● Web Sources: This part is not required, but looking at message boards, forums, gaming websites, game publisher websites, and other sites will probably be helpful to your research. However, please make sure that the information on the site is appropriate to your topic (we will discuss how to evaluate websites in a class period).
● Print Sources: There are tons of excellent books about the history of board games, board game design, board game culture, etc. Use them. I'll try to have a few on reserve in the library for you.
● Interviews: If you can find somebody to interview about your topic, that is always excellent and I strongly suggest that you include an interview if appropriate. However, please do not use an interview of a family member or close friend (without my prior approval).
● Primary Texts: Although these will not count as a source, you should be analyzing the board game or board games (or other primary texts depending on your topic) at hand, using the rhetorical analysis skills we learned in the first paper to broaden the depth of your paper.
● Videos, Audio, and other Multimedia: Feel free to use Youtube videos or podcasts from the interwebs in your paper. This does count as a source (but not a scholarly source).
4. Rough Drafts: We will be going through three drafts in class: two workshops with your peers and one conference with me. I expect that you will be working hard in revision -- this assignment will require a lot of revision, research, and more revision, and more research. Please do not be scared to scrap entire pages or paragraphs, to reword or revise your thesis, or even to change the whole structure or process of your writing.
5. Final Draft: Your final draft will be 7-9 pages and will include a works cited page (that does not count toward the 7 page minimum). You also will include a Process Memo that will be at least 2 pages long.
Paper 3: Promoting Board Games, 25%
Project (3 options) and 4 page process memo
For this assignment you will be helping to spread the gospel of board games to the broader world. In order to do this, you'll be creating your own video, board game proposal, or board game adaptation. There are two steps to this project.
PART 1. Choose from one of the following and create a text accordingly:
Option A: Podcast, Vlog Entry, or Youtube Video
As you have seen this semester, board games culture is growing, and often people are using Vlogs, podcasts, or Youtube videos to get the word out. Now it's your turn to do the same.
Create a 7-10 minute video or audio file in which you discuss a board game or board game related issue and post it to your blog. Your topic must be different than the first two papers, but can address a topic that would be appropriate for the second paper.
A simple explanation of rules will not due, however. You may BRIEFLY explain a game, but I expect the podcast to creatively pitch the importance of the game instead (or to argue against a game -- that's a form of promotion, too).
Option B: Create Your Own Board Game Proposal
You are all fairly knowledgeable about the building blocks of board games now. This project, then, is your opportunity to create your own idea for a board game.
Write a 3-4 page proposal to a board game. You may write the paper in sections, with each section addressing parts of the game (such as design, mechanics, storyline, theme, etc.). Try to keep in mind what your intended audience will be for this game, and be sure to make rhetorical decisions that fit that board game.
Your proposal will start with a "pitch" or "hook" for the game, which is a 1-2 page explanation of the selling points of the game. You must also include the following: a theme, a game title, an explanation of the type of game mechanic you are using (though perhaps not the exact rules), a storyline (if your game has one), and ideas for imagery/items in the game/etc.
You may but are not required to include any of the following: a rulebook, a design for the cover, or any actual parts or pieces for your game.
Option C: Board Game Adaptation
As you have seen throughout the semester, board game adaptations have become huge. There have been board games turned into movies (such as Battleship and Clue) and vice versa (such as the Battlestar Galactica Game) as well as books turned into games (such as the Lord of the Rings or Arkham Horror).
This project is your opportunity to start your own adaptation. You do one of the following:
● Choose a board game that you would like to turn into another text. You can turn it into a movie, novel, collection of poems, a musical album or composition, or a piece of visual art. For your proposal you will turn in an excerpt of the new text (if you do a movie or an album, you can turn in the movie poster or album cover OR you can actually film/record some of the piece).
● Choose a book, movie, album, piece of art, or other story that could be turned into a board game. Then follow the steps in OPTION B.
PART 2. Write a 3-4 page Process Memo that addresses the following:
● How does your project help to bring board games to a larger audience?
● Who is the audience for your project? What rhetorical devices did you make to appeal to this audience?
● What is the biggest selling point for your project? Why would people want to play it / see it / hear it/ etc.?
● What knowledge did you use that you learned from earlier in the semester?
For this assignment you will be helping to spread the gospel of board games to the broader world. In order to do this, you'll be creating your own video, board game proposal, or board game adaptation. There are two steps to this project.
PART 1. Choose from one of the following and create a text accordingly:
Option A: Podcast, Vlog Entry, or Youtube Video
As you have seen this semester, board games culture is growing, and often people are using Vlogs, podcasts, or Youtube videos to get the word out. Now it's your turn to do the same.
Create a 7-10 minute video or audio file in which you discuss a board game or board game related issue and post it to your blog. Your topic must be different than the first two papers, but can address a topic that would be appropriate for the second paper.
A simple explanation of rules will not due, however. You may BRIEFLY explain a game, but I expect the podcast to creatively pitch the importance of the game instead (or to argue against a game -- that's a form of promotion, too).
Option B: Create Your Own Board Game Proposal
You are all fairly knowledgeable about the building blocks of board games now. This project, then, is your opportunity to create your own idea for a board game.
Write a 3-4 page proposal to a board game. You may write the paper in sections, with each section addressing parts of the game (such as design, mechanics, storyline, theme, etc.). Try to keep in mind what your intended audience will be for this game, and be sure to make rhetorical decisions that fit that board game.
Your proposal will start with a "pitch" or "hook" for the game, which is a 1-2 page explanation of the selling points of the game. You must also include the following: a theme, a game title, an explanation of the type of game mechanic you are using (though perhaps not the exact rules), a storyline (if your game has one), and ideas for imagery/items in the game/etc.
You may but are not required to include any of the following: a rulebook, a design for the cover, or any actual parts or pieces for your game.
Option C: Board Game Adaptation
As you have seen throughout the semester, board game adaptations have become huge. There have been board games turned into movies (such as Battleship and Clue) and vice versa (such as the Battlestar Galactica Game) as well as books turned into games (such as the Lord of the Rings or Arkham Horror).
This project is your opportunity to start your own adaptation. You do one of the following:
● Choose a board game that you would like to turn into another text. You can turn it into a movie, novel, collection of poems, a musical album or composition, or a piece of visual art. For your proposal you will turn in an excerpt of the new text (if you do a movie or an album, you can turn in the movie poster or album cover OR you can actually film/record some of the piece).
● Choose a book, movie, album, piece of art, or other story that could be turned into a board game. Then follow the steps in OPTION B.
PART 2. Write a 3-4 page Process Memo that addresses the following:
● How does your project help to bring board games to a larger audience?
● Who is the audience for your project? What rhetorical devices did you make to appeal to this audience?
● What is the biggest selling point for your project? Why would people want to play it / see it / hear it/ etc.?
● What knowledge did you use that you learned from earlier in the semester?
Paper 1 or 2 Revision
At the end of the semester, you have the option to revise EITHER Paper 1 or Paper 2. Your revision is a completely new paper and can get a new grade (worst case, you'll still get the grade for the old paper). Here's what you need to do in order to turn in a revision:
REVISION GUIDELINES, PAPER 1:
1. You must turn in your old paper with the grade sheet attached along with the new paper.
2. You must HEAVILY revise the paper. This means that I expect a change in your thesis, paragraph changes, reordering, and perhaps a new title. Simply changing surface level errors (such as font issues or margins) and expecting points back will yield no results.
3. You must add at least 1 page of length to the new version. This should not be fluff, but even deeper analysis of your board game.
4. All surface level errors (formatting, grammar, punctuation, the board game citation) should be perfect or near-perfect.
REVISION GUIDELINES, PAPER 2:
1. You must turn in your old paper with the grade sheet attached along with the new paper.
2. You must HEAVILY revise the paper. This means that I expect a change in your thesis, paragraph changes, reordering, and perhaps a new title. Simply changing surface level errors (such as font issues or margins) and expecting points back will yield no results.
3. You must add at least 1 page of length to the new version.
4. You must add at least 1 new scholarly source to the paper. A web source will not count.
5. All citations, formatting, grammar should be perfect or near-perfect. I really expect there to be almost no citation errors.
REVISION GUIDELINES, PAPER 1:
1. You must turn in your old paper with the grade sheet attached along with the new paper.
2. You must HEAVILY revise the paper. This means that I expect a change in your thesis, paragraph changes, reordering, and perhaps a new title. Simply changing surface level errors (such as font issues or margins) and expecting points back will yield no results.
3. You must add at least 1 page of length to the new version. This should not be fluff, but even deeper analysis of your board game.
4. All surface level errors (formatting, grammar, punctuation, the board game citation) should be perfect or near-perfect.
REVISION GUIDELINES, PAPER 2:
1. You must turn in your old paper with the grade sheet attached along with the new paper.
2. You must HEAVILY revise the paper. This means that I expect a change in your thesis, paragraph changes, reordering, and perhaps a new title. Simply changing surface level errors (such as font issues or margins) and expecting points back will yield no results.
3. You must add at least 1 page of length to the new version.
4. You must add at least 1 new scholarly source to the paper. A web source will not count.
5. All citations, formatting, grammar should be perfect or near-perfect. I really expect there to be almost no citation errors.