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 movement and exploration mechanics and then work with 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.
"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, with no prior programming experience necessary. We’ll start with very basic movement and exploration mechanics and then work with 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!
This class may be for you if you:
This class may NOT be for you if you:
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
Flan Falacci is a game developer and artist whose work explores pacing, texture, emotion, and digitally mediated existence. They are a founding member of boshi's place, a collective and exhibition space in Brooklyn focusing on experimental games, and an adjunct professor at the NYU Game Center. Their work makes use of found assets like ripped models from other games, personal screenshots, and edits of popular music. Their work has been shown at festivals around the world, and nominated for the Independent Games Festival’s Nuovo Award and the AMAZE Festival’s Digital Moment Award.
they/them
Applications open until Applications closed on November 16, 2026.
You can expect to hear back from us about the status of your application on . 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 also offers scholarships to attend for $600, $300, $100 or even $0. Over half of our students receive some form of scholarship. Our application will ask you how much tuition you are able to afford and if we accept you, you will only have to pay that amount. Learn more about scholarships at SFPC here.
For more information about what we look for in applicants, scholarships, and other frequently asked questions, please visit our applicant FAQ.
Interested in more learning opportunities at the School for Poetic Computation? Join our newsletter to stay up to date on future sessions and events, and follow us on Instagram and Twitter. Support our programming through scholarships. Get in touch over email.
loading...