Welcome

This course picks up where CS50x leaves off, focusing on the development of 2D and 3D interactive games. Students explore the design of such childhood games as Super Mario Bros., Legend of Zelda, and Portal in a quest to understand how video games themselves are implemented. Via lectures and hands-on projects, the course explores principles of 2D and 3D graphics, animation, sound, and collision detection using frameworks like Unity and LÖVE 2D, as well as languages like Lua and C#. By class’s end, students will have programmed several of their own games and gained a thorough understanding of the basics of game design and development.

Prerequisites

CS50x or prior experience in any programming language.

How to Take this Course

Even if you are not a student at Harvard, you are welcome to “take” this course for free via this OpenCourseWare by working your way through the course’s twelve weeks of material. If you’d like to submit the course’s twelve projects for feedback, be sure to create an edX account, if you haven’t already. Ask questions along the way via any of the course’s communities!

• If interested in a verified certificate from edX, enroll at cs50.edx.org/games instead.
• If interested in a professional certificate from edX, enroll at cs50.edx.org/programs/games instead.
• If interested in transfer credit and accreditation from Harvard Extension School, register at web.dce.harvard.edu/extension/csci/e/23a instead.
• If interested in transfer credit and accreditation from Harvard Summer School, register at web.dce.harvard.edu/summer/csci/s/23a instead.

How to Teach this Course

If you are a teacher, you are welcome to adopt or adapt these materials for your own course, per the license.