Playthink

USC Games Professor Richard Lemarchand joins us for this episode of Playthink, to talk about his book A Playful Production Process - For Game Designers (And Everyone). Interviewed by Game Innovation Lab Director Tracy Fullerton, Lemarchand discusses the core aspects of concentric development, digging into the importance of prototyping, macro charts, and truly collaborative design teams. This book, which is the core text for the USC Games Intermediate Project classes comes out of Lemarchand’s deep expertise as a lead or co-lead designer on all three PlayStation 3 games on Naughty Dog’s Uncharted series, as well as his work on the Gex and Soul Reaver games at Crystal Dynamics, and, of course, his experiences teaching game design, development, storytelling, and production as a professor at USC.

This episode of Playthink welcomes game designer, scholar, and professor Celia Pearce as we discuss the rich areas of play theory explored in her new book, Playframes: How do we know we are playing? Interviewed by MS candidate Reef (Harith Liew), Pearce leads us through a fascinating set of questions around the metacommunication of play. WIth topics ranging from theme parks, to sports, to cosplay and video games, Pearce creates distinctions for us, both designers and players, that help us understand how better communications around what is play and when we are playing can start to build better and safer playful spaces.

On this episode of Playthink, we welcome game designer and author Chris Totten as we explore his book, An Architectural Approach to Level Design. Interviewed by level designer and MFA candidate Zhutian Zhang, Totten discusses ways in which his approach brings in methods of planning and thinking about levels as playful architectural spaces that bring together the artistic, the cultural, and the technological.

On this episode of Playthink, we welcome game designer and scholar Tracy Fullerton as we explore her book, The Well-Read Game: On Playing Thoughtfully — co-authored with Dr. Matthew Farber. Game designer and USC Games alumnus Maynard Hearns hosts this conversation about the themes of the book, which invite us to examine the ephemeral, emotional, and deeply personal experiences of play, the stories that we tell ourselves while playing, the feelings that linger, and the subjective meanings we create.

On this episode of Playthink, Professor TreaAndrea Russorm, Director of the Radical Play Game Design Lab, and Post Doctoral Scholar M. Coopilton discuss how games shape civic engagement, power structures, and democracy. We dive inot the ways that interactive media can challenge or reinforce social hierarchies and inspire new forms of Play.

On this episode of Playthink, Game Designer Sam Roberts and Eric Park discuss Robert's essay on class systems in Final Fantasy Tactics and other RPG's. The conversation ranges far and wide from the narrative potentials for system designs around class to the ways that playing with class in games can offer real world opportunities for change.

Playthink is back after so much time away! Please join us for a wonderful conversation between Narrative Designer Christal Rose Hazelton and Bryan Sng Yong about her work on Apex Legends, crafting authentic characters from diverse backgrounds, and using feedback to refine portrayals of characters. She has some great advice for young creatives on finding their voice in the industry — especially those from underrepresented backgrounds. Have a listen and we’ll be back again soon!

Playthink is back and Zoomier than ever!! Please join us for a Zoom conversation between Eric Zimmerman and Tracy Fullerton about the recently released “The Infinite Playground,” the final book by visionary game designer Bernie De Koven, written with Holly Gramazio and edited by Celia Pearce and Eric Zimmerman. Eric and Tracy Fullerton will be discussion Bernie’s work and the importance of the themes of his final book in our world today.

RSVP here and we will send you a link to the Zoom webinar on the day of the event.