The following intelligent thoughts by: Charlie Feuerborn*

Why USC? Games. When I chose to attend USC for my bachelor's degree, I had to weigh a lot of options against each other. For one, I had an inclination to study out-of-state, trying to get out of my comfort zone of sunny California. University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign (UIUC) presented a great opportunity to pursue a degree in Computer Science and Philosophy, especially with my interest in Artificial Intelligence and growth of AI everywhere. That program nearly became my pick - attracted to the prospect of challenge combined with thinking about the ethics behind AI while I implemented it. UC Berkeley offered a similar opportunity to be on the cutting-edge of computer science, while being near Silicon Valley to sate my growing interest in entrepreneurship. Ultimately though, I just want to create positive experiences for people. Thus, USC has been a great decision, and much of my choice was driven by SC's(well deserved) prestige as a game design school.  Junior year ...

Takeaways Invest the time early to carefully choose dramatic elements that adhere strongly to your mechanics Being a pirate is cool and exploration is fun Be thoughtful with time-estimates to finish things, then double the number you arrive at Under-promise and over-deliver Particular game strengths: Aesthetics (pins for player markers, pirate-map art, gold coin points) and dramatic elements (pirate exploration & stealing) complemented mechanics (moving, staying, looting, stealing, attacking) excellently. Design Journal - “Here there be Pirates” Team members from left to right: Laura Littleton, Charlie Feuerborn, Reid Weston, Abigail Sullivan. Our affordance object: A reversible sequin throw pillowcase Our team was quick to jump to work, experimenting physically with the object and bouncing ideas off one another. We found that the object interestingly affords: Throwing Rubbing/color changing Holding things Wearing like a hat or hood Spinning Multiple people interac...