Games & Adaptations Class

Overview

This class explores adaptations within the context of movie tie-in games: both board games and video games. We will discuss the nature of adaptation – a story told over again – and the aesthetic effects of intertextuality (what Linda Hutcheon calls its “palimpsestuous” quality).

Each week we’ll watch a film, and in class we’ll play its game adaptation. Together, we’ll investigate how the game is in conversation with its source. How has the story transformed in its transfer from cinema to play, and what are the aesthetics and difficulties that arise from this transformation?

Finally, over the length of the course, we’ll seek to understand the many modes of adaptation itself, following the theories of Fredric Jameson, Jean Baudrillard, Linda Hutcheon, and more. We'll discuss narrative adaptations like Peter Jackson’s King Kong, world adaptations like Alien: Isolation, “fuzzy” adaptations like Oikospiel, and pastiche in works like Until Dawn. By the end of the class, you will have a grasp on the broad histories of licensed games, the many modes of adaptations and their effects, and have created your own movie adaptation in an engine of their choice (no code required).

Details

Instructor: Joey Schutz
Date: June 8 - July 27 (8 weeks)
Time: Sundays, 11am - 2pm
Location: Online, or In person, at Boshi's Place, 1002 Metropolitan Avenue, Brooklyn, NY, 11221
Cost: $600
Deadline: Applications close April 15

Sign up here!

Course Outline

• Week 1: Introductions, 1980s - 1990s licensed games
• Week 2: Adaptating characters
• Week 3: Adaptating worlds
• Week 4: Better than the movie?
• Week 5: Adaptation at the table
• Week 6: Postmoderns & Pastiches
• Week 7: Plunderludics
• Week 8: Remakes

Expectations

Time & Workload:
Students should plan to dedicate 2 to 3 hours outside of class for films, readings, and working on a game adaptation.

Technical Experience:
No technical experience is expected. For game making, we will cover no-code engines for anyone without a programming background.

Is this class for me?

This class is for you if you:

• are interested in the theoretical underpinnings and modalities of adaptation
• are interested in the intersections between games, play, and cinema
• want to make & share your own adaptations alongside others
• want to meet in a physical space to discuss art & games with others
• want an excuse to play through 1983’s E.T.: The Extraterrestrial

We will be making a video game adaptation of a movie in this class, but there is no expectation of having a programming background – we'll cover no-code game engines as well (though if you do have a programming background, you are free to use whatever engines you like)

About the venue

Boshi's Place is a space that celebrates game making as a craft. We host game events, workshops, music shows, and more, and are located in East Williamsburg.