Franklin High School – Y25H07 Game Studies

Mar 2026 · 2nd Semester

Game Studies places a heavy emphasis on analysis and historical reasoning. While the content is about video games, the skills focus on critical thinking and writing around four core ideas: the history of video games, game design and analysis, genre studies, industry, culture, and community. The history of video games focuses on developments in the game industry — the cultural patterns and technologies that made video games possible and transformed the industry into what we see today. Game design and analysis gives students a framework for understanding the mind of a game designer — how they craft experiences for players, just as writers craft experiences for readers. Students study approaches to creating games and apply their knowledge to explain how specific games work (or don’t). Students will explore games in 3-4 genres to practice applying the concepts they’ve learned about genre conventions and the way new genres develop and transform. The course includes a study of the issues affecting the video game industry, video game culture, and the gaming community.