The school class from Lower Bavaria learned all about the study and professional field of games at an information day at HNU at the beginning of November, which was organized by course director Prof. Michael Hebel, Prof. Guido Kühn and research assistant Sebastian de Andrade. The students attended a lecture, learned about careers in the games industry and developed their own board game. They were accompanied by their teachers Conny Landesberger and Eva Hollrotter.
Insight into the degree course
The students had the opportunity to watch presentations of games projects by current students from the fifth semester and give critical feedback. Building on this, they reflected on the pitches and deduced what requirements game developers face and how these can be learned during their studies. Prof. Hebel also provided insights into lecture didactics.
Outlook for later professional fields
He then presented the professional fields in the core games market and the extended games market to the guests and also talked about the skills that are important for a career in this industry.
Overview of board game development
Finally, the pupils applied what they had learned from the students' presentations themselves: In small groups, they developed a straightforward board game and defined a shared vision. The task was to develop a walking game with different walking paths and event fields with simple dice mechanics and event variants. Finally, they had to come up with a solution as to how the game could be played without dice.
The P-Seminar is part of the gymnasiale Oberstufe in Bavaria. It is designed to support pupils in their choice of studies and career. The aim is to prepare them for the demands of university and the world of work. The two teachers at Burkhardt-Gymnasium Mallerdorf-Pfaffenberg opted for projects that are interdisciplinary and train teamwork skills as well as integrating individual skills and competencies. In doing so, they came across the topic of "games".
