School
for
Poetic
Computation
"Show, don't tell" is a familiar suggestion working in literature and film, but games have their own suggestion: "Do, don't show." The primary conceit of a game, that you're doing something, is challenging to approach from a design standpoint. How do you let players explore a system on their own terms while still conveying a particular mood or story? How can characters be meaningfully different from each other in the way they operate? How do you make players feel a certain way, or even give them space to feel anything at all? This class will get you started on understanding and working with the videogame as an expressive cultural form. We will be using GameMaker 2D, with no prior programming experience necessary. We’ll start with very basic “action game” mechanics and then explore different ways of representing things, people, feelings, etc. through various design approaches and techniques. Knowledge gained through the topics covered will be broadly useful to many creative contexts and projects, not just the videogame!
Images courtesy of teachers.
This class doesn’t require any coding or programming experience. Those with programming experience are encouraged to apply, keeping in mind that programming for video games is different and will introduce you to many new (or weird) techniques. Many of the design principles discussed in this class will be broadly applicable outside of a video game context.
A laptop/computer (not a tablet/phone) that can be used for game development. It may also be helpful to have a second screen (or device) for the video chat so that you can follow along with in-class tutorials easier.
LAWRA SUITS CLARK is a videogames artist, designer, and educator living in New York, and a co-founder of Babycastles Gallery, dedicated to showcasing contemporary independent videogames and other media by marginalized creators. Lawra's personal work involves climate fiction, absurdist futures, death positivity, ambient play, and game mechanic as poetic device.
They/Them
· website
· twitter
· instagram
Blake Andrews is a game designer, illustrator, animator, and instructor living in New York. They have taught game design at both Bloomfield College and Pratt Institute. Since graduating from New York University’s Game Design MFA program, Blake has been involved with installations and events at Babycastles, Wonderville, and Red Parry. The Babycastles installation, Ribbit’s Frog World, involved several large indoor pits of mud.
Blake’s games are confrontational both mechanically and narratively. They frequently use a distinct low fidelity, crude, cartoon style. Their hundreds of small games are hosted on websites like Glorious Trainwrecks and itch.io.
Outside of digital games and art, Blake shows an enthusiasm for alternative controllers. One of their collaborations with Frank DeMarco, Scrapeboard, has the player scraping a real skateboard, without wheels, on metal pads in order to defeat enemies like Kool Man. Scrapeboard has been featured at alt.ctrl.gdc, a Puma release party, a LilyPichu video, and in The New Yorker.
they/them
· website
· twitter
· instagram
Applications open until Applications closed on November 17, 2025.
You can expect to hear back from us about the status of your application on December 9, 2025. Please email us at admissions@sfpc.study with any questions you have.
For 10 classes, it costs $1200 + processing fees, for a one-time payment. We also offer payment plans. Participants can schedule monthly payments of the same amount. First and last payments must be made before the start and end of class. *Processing fees apply for each payment.
SFPC processes all payments via Withfriends and Stripe. Please email admissions@sfpc.study if these payment options don't work for you.
For more information about what we look for in applicants, scholarships, and other frequently asked questions, please visit our applicant FAQ.
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