Announcements

• The course’s next lecture, Angry Birds, is now available.
• Attend a section for this lecture during the week of April 13.
• Complete Project 6 no later than 2026-04-26T23:59:00-04:00.

Description

This course picks up where Harvard College’s CS50 leaves off, focusing on the development of two-dimensional (2D) interactive games. Students explore the design and mechanics of such childhood games as Pong, Flappy Bird, Breakout, Match 3, Super Mario Bros., Legend of Zelda, Angry Birds, and Pokémon in a quest to understand how video games more broadly are implemented. Via lectures and hands-on projects, the course explores principles of 2D graphics, animation, sound, and collision detection using the Lua programming language and LÖVE 2D framework. By course’s end, students have programmed several of their own games and gained a thorough understanding of the basics of game design and development, and are equipped to implement the same professionally or personally.

Table of Contents

Pong

1. Watch Lecture 0 on or after 2026-01-26T00:00:00-05:00.
2. Attend section, live and with webcam and audio enabled (per sections’ norms).
3. Optionally attend office hours.
4. Work on Project 0, due 2026-02-08T23:59:00-05:00.

Flappy Bird

1. Watch Lecture 1 on or after 2026-02-09T00:00:00-05:00.
2. Attend section, live and with webcam and audio enabled (per sections’ norms).
3. Optionally attend office hours.
4. Work on Project 1, due 2026-02-15T23:59:00-05:00.

Breakout

1. Watch Lecture 2 on or after 2026-02-16T00:00:00-05:00.
2. Attend section, live and with webcam and audio enabled (per sections’ norms).
3. Optionally attend office hours.
4. Work on Project 2, due 2026-02-22T23:59:00-05:00.

Match 3

1. Watch Lecture 3 on or after 2026-02-23T00:00:00-05:00.
2. Attend section, live and with webcam and audio enabled (per sections’ norms).
3. Optionally attend office hours.
4. Work on Project 3, due 2026-03-08T23:59:00-04:00.

Super Mario Bros.

1. Watch Lecture 4 on or after 2026-03-09T00:00:00-04:00.
2. Attend section, live and with webcam and audio enabled (per sections’ norms).
3. Optionally attend office hours.
4. Work on Project 4, due 2026-03-29T23:59:00-04:00.

Legend of Zelda

1. Watch Lecture 5 on or after 2026-03-30T00:00:00-04:00.
2. Attend section, live and with webcam and audio enabled (per sections’ norms).
3. Optionally attend office hours.
4. Work on Project 5, due 2026-04-12T23:59:00-04:00.

Angry Birds

1. Watch Lecture 6 on or after 2026-04-13T00:00:00-04:00.
2. Attend section, live and with webcam and audio enabled (per sections’ norms).
3. Optionally attend office hours.
4. Work on Project 6, due 2026-04-26T23:59:00-04:00.