Sign up for our awesome New York Tech Events weekly email newsletter.     EVENT DETAILS With skillful worldbuilding, you can create a compelling setting for your game that will engage & transport your players. Only 12 spots available. Class Description Worldbuilding is an essential step in developing immersive, compelling stories & games. Even if your game doesn't have characters or a plot, it probably has a world of some kind. How do you create a cohesive, engaging world that feels like a place your players will want to spend time in? And how do you make it fresh & original without rehashing familiar tropes? In this class, we'll discuss basic worldbuilding strategies that work for any creative fiction project, as well as some considerations particular to narratively driven & even non-narrative games.Students will participate in short worldbuilding exercises & class discussions. Laptops are welcome but not required-plain pen & paper is just fine, too. Featured Topics How much worldbuilding do you need, anyway? Creating fictional worlds from whole cloth Worldbuilding for real-world settings Hitting the books: why research matters & how to do it effectively Culturally aware approaches to worldbuilding: using tropes intelligently & avoiding stereotypes About the Instructor Jess Haskins is a Brooklyn-based game designer, writer, & editor specializing in narrative design, worldbuilding, & interactive storytelling. She received an MFA in Design & Technology from Parsons School of Design & has worked at What Pumpkin Studios, Arkadium, & Muse Games in design, writing, & management roles. She has created stories & worlds for numerous games including Muse Games' multiplayer steampunk airship shooter Guns of Icarus Online & NeoCrux's forthcoming strategy space exploration game GalaCollider. In 2016 she launched Paperback Studio to provide design, writing, editorial, & consulting services for games & other creative projects. She currently serves as co-chair of the New York City chapter of the IGDA.