This fall, the Department of Design and Creative Technology welcomed a new course called Tiny Games Workshop (IMM 270-01) to its curriculum. The class is taught by Associate Professor Joshua Fishurn from the School of Arts and Communication.
This topic first began as an IMM Mini Course in the Spring of 2021 when COVID-19 was still present around campus. Tiny Games Workshop became a full course after Professor Fishburn expressed how impressed he was with the projects that came from the Mini Course; now the course is available to all DCT students.
“My inspiration for creating this course is that I’m really interested in constraint as an idea for making creative work,” Fishburn noted.
In the class, students use game creation platforms such as Bitsy and GB Studio, and learn how to create innovative designs using limited resources. Professor Fishburn emphasizes that the students spend more time creating games with the tools provided instead of spending more time learning the tools. This gives his students extra time to create games that they will be proud of and enjoy by the end of the semester.
Tiny Games Workshop challenges students to create games based on limited freedom when designing. Fishburn provided an example of a game that uses only one button: “If the tool you’re using only has a few possibilities, you really have to explore those possibilities fully, and you can find ways to work around what the tool offers,” Fishburn commented. He expects students to have a portfolio of games by the end of the semester, especially for those students who are interested in pursuing careers in game design.
Professor Fishburn continues to add components to his course such as new consoles for students to experiment with and use. Read more about the Games and Playable Media area of the DCT curriculum here: https://dct.tcnj.edu/program/imm-areas-of-study/game-design/
- Maya Randall ‘26