Pixel Art and Game Design with Bitsy
- Location: Virtual (Discord)
- Date: April 24th-27th 2023
- Duration: 4 sessions of 1 hour each
- Instructors: Nancy Townsend, Vanessa Racine
Overview:
In this four day workshop, we gathered on Discord to teach the fundamentals of game design and pixel art using Bitsy! The team joined in virtually, joining a class at Lac La Croix Highschool, using a new curriculum for Bitsy games where we draw our games out on paper before jumping into the engine.
The first day we had an invited speaker, Ade Esan, who is the Lead AI Designer over at WB Games. Over Discord, Ade discussed how Ade discusses how we can level up from a game user to creator, and what makes a game great. In the next day and a half, students were given a crash course on game design and pixel art, using brainstorming sheets to help design a narrative that they could then recreate through game rooms and assets. Once the students had their ideas on paper, we then introduced them to the Bitsy interface and we were all off using paper rooms and tiles to create their assets.
On the final day,once the bulk of the games were complete, students got up and switched seats, playing each other’s games for beta testing and peer-feedback. Students were able to make full, complete games by the end of the series! We had a variety of genres, such as a zombie-hunting game, finding a spaceship, and more!
Funded in part by:
