Games 101 is the foundational course for the NYU Game Center. The focus of Games 101 is game literacy – a shared understanding of games as complex cultural and aesthetic objects. The class incorporates lectures, discussion, readings, and writing assignments, but the primary activity of the class is critical play – playing games in order to better understand and appreciate them. The class covers games on and off the computer, including classic and contemporary board and card games, sports, and games on the PC, internet, and consoles.

Undergraduate