By Audrey VanVenRoy
My favorite ASUPD class so far is Game Design, taught by Carli Stiller. This class stands out because it lets me explore the world of game development and bring my creative ideas to life through scripting, designing, and other methods. It pushes me to stay creative within my skill level, and I chose to spotlight it because I genuinely enjoy the class and hope to use these skills in a future career.
Game Design 1B is a Fine Arts course that teaches you how to design and develop games in Unity. I originally took Game Design 1A in 9th grade as a summer class with a different teacher, and it did not include Unity at all. When I started 1B this year, the curriculum had changed, and 1A now teaches Unity, which means the course technically assumes you already know how to use it. Luckily, Ms. Stiller did not assume that at all. Many students, including me, had no experience with Unity, and she taught us everything we needed. Her patience and support helped a lot.
The coursework includes Lessons, Critical Thinking Questions, Unit Activities, Cumulative Projects that combine everything you learned, two Discussions per unit, and Unit Tests. It is not extremely difficult, but there is a lot of work. The Critical Thinking Questions require detailed and thoughtful answers, which helps build strong critical thinking skills. Other assignments help you learn about story development, visual design, and game mechanics.
Right now I am working on an idea for a murder mystery game. The main character is a detective and secret assassin who infiltrates a wealthy family’s party to stop them because of their terrible actions. But someone in the family is murdered by someone else before the character can act, so they have to solve the mystery while deciding whether to continue the mission. I really like this idea, and it came together when I started Game Design 1B. This course helped me put all the pieces together. I recommend it to students who want to explore creativity, make stories, learn programming, or understand game development. C# is also a valuable skill in many careers.
I also interviewed Ms. Stiller for this blog using sample questions I was given. She let me record the meeting, and below is a shortened and cleaned version of her responses.
Interview Highlights
What do you love most about teaching this course?
Ms. Stiller said she loves that there is a new challenge every day. Even though she originally studied history, she fell in love with technology, computers, and problem solving. There are always new mechanics to learn and new solutions to find, which makes the class exciting. She also enjoys getting to play a lot of games.
What advice do you give students starting Game Design?
She said to start small and finish something. Begin with one mechanic or one level, make it playable, and then improve it. Many students have huge ideas like creating an open world, which is possible but only if you build it step by step. Starting small prevents frustration and helps you stay motivated. Once you get one mechanic working, like a character taking damage, it feels rewarding and pushes you to keep going.
What project or topic do students usually enjoy most?
According to Ms. Stiller, students enjoy programming the most. Many take Game Design specifically for the chance to learn C#. Programming feels powerful because you write code, press play, and see something happen immediately. She said that moment of seeing your work come to life is exciting and motivates students. It is her favorite part too. She talked about how she started as a history major, then got her teaching certification, and later returned to school for her master’s in computer science. She loves the feeling of finally solving a difficult problem and seeing it work.
After the interview, we also looked at a Unity and Visual Studio issue I was having, and she helped me figure out what was going on. That was the end of the meeting.
This class has inspired me to explore story development in a visual and interactive way. It has helped me grow academically and personally through programming, critical thinking, and creativity. I highly recommend Game Design with Ms. Stiller to anyone looking for a Fine Arts class that is fun, creative, and useful. Join the live lessons, get involved, and let yourself enjoy the experience.
