Course 1 had a terrible grading scheme (I'm currently finishing Course 2). Whoever put questions to things never mentioned and made it fill in the blank you gotta redo that. Also, PLEASE FIX THE AMBIGUOUS FILL IN THE BLANKS. You have to type it EXACTLY how they want it to otherwise marked wrong and punished by time locking for 23 hours?! No wonder there are so many bad reviews of this certificate all over the internet.

I started taking the course. So far, I have completed the first two modules. But I was very unpleasantly surprised by the quality of the lectures and materials. They are very weak and general. At the same time, the tests are complex and are not disclosed at all or even approximated in the lecture. I work in game development, so they are easy for me. But I can't imagine how a person who knows nothing about game development would go through the course. So maybe you could make some normal materials where you would cover all the aspects? Especially if you are asking about it in tests

Much of the course material seems to be missing as the tests cover topics that the materials never cover. Furthermore, even if you happen to know the answers from your own experience the automated grading system will likely mark them as incorrect and you will not be allowed to progress. Ultimately, this course is a disappointing trap. Don't waste your time.

Course is a waste of time, quizzes are on material not covered and questions are marked wrong even when the correct answer is given. needs serious rework and is a disappoint for a paid product.

Intro course fundamentally broken; staff engagement nonexistent.

horrible course its terrible AI grading system unless you write exactly letter for letter what the AI is expecting its going to say your answer is wrong, also most of the time the assignments & quizzes have nothing to do with the content provided in the course videos

Strengths: - The course offers a solid foundation in game design concepts. - The ideas and course flow are well-structured and logical. - Engaging deliverables effectively reinforces the course material. Areas for Improvement: 1. Quizzes: - Many questions cover untaught material, suggesting possible removed content. - Text input questions are ambiguous, with correct answers often marked incorrectly. - Some questions are out of order or beyond the course's scope, requiring external research. 2. Peer Review: - While valuable, the criteria are overly simplistic. - Current criteria only assess if the submission resembles a GDD and describes a possible game, lacking depth. Overall, the course provides a good introduction to game design. However, the assessment methods, particularly the quizzes and peer review process, need significant refinement to align with the course content and provide more meaningful evaluation of learners' understanding.

the tests do not match what is given in the lessons - this is inconvenient, but on the other hand, it makes you think and look for additional information! So I am rather happy with this approach

great videos and content, but the quizes were horribly designed.

It is a good course for someone with prior experience. For a newcomer it will be very challenging due to the lack of video tutorials and explanations

There were many issues with the course. The key being quizzes that covered material that was not covered in the course at all. The videos were informative but very lacking given the questions on the exams. There was no reference to additional reading material so I am not sure where that content was supposed to come from. The final assignment was a 30+ page game design document on a ficitonal game after only 15 minutes of video description and an industry example which was 350 pages, making it impossible to use as a comparison. Overall, while there were come gems in the course, in order to pass it required SIGNIFICANT personal research and time.

The very end of the first of eight course certificate was good. The entire beginning was not. Also, the questions on tests practically NEVER had answers related to the topics that were taught before it. Many times the answers on the tests were words and things never even mentioned or said in the videos. The lesson consisted of like multiple 2 minute videos on different aspects of the video game industry. It really didn’t feel very engaging and informative. It felt too easy, especially for a professional certificate. I want a true learning experience, not a “getting my toesies wet in unreal”

Testing material is divorced, out of order and disjointed from the course material. Editing is poor in many places. Exercises are good and well enough explained to provoke the intended serious look at the admin and structure of a project the size of a game.

Good info but they have some big issues when I took it with the tests not matching the content.

I find the instructor to be a poor speaker and quite unenthusiastic. He seems like a nice person and clearly knows the subject matter, but I don't think that teaching is for him. He also keeps plugging his own game, which feels a little icky. However, the biggest problem with this course is not the instructor, but rather the fact that the quizzes contain questions on material that we HAVE NOT EVEN COVERED. And I'm talking about very, very specific material. Apparently, there was an entire history of video games portion that was cut from the syllabus, but yet questions regarding the history of video games found their way to the quizzes. Not only that, but the quizzes feature an "AI" scoring system, in which you input a written answer and the "AI" determines whether or not you answered correctly. Multiple times, I entered the EXACT answer they were looking for, and had the answer marked incorrect. Overall, this course is horribly designed, horribly executed, and in need of a total overhaul.

Some of the Computer checked quiz sections are frustrating, giving an answer such as "interactivity" and failing due to expected answer "interaction" for example when the question is not so specific about the exact grammatical usage it expects of an answer. Some quizzes ask questions for modules not yet covered and some sections you are recommended to revise either don't exist or were renamed at some point. Despite that, good content and certainly helpful as an intro to design.

Overall, I found the course very informative and engaging. The main speaker was excellent—he clearly has a deep knowledge of the subject and communicates it exceptionally well. His lectures were engaging and well-structured, making the material easy to follow. However, I did notice a few issues with the video editing. In several instances, the speaker was cut off mid-sentence, which disrupted the flow and clarity of the content. Additionally, there were some mismatches between questions and their corresponding answers, which could be confusing for students trying to grasp key concepts. Another area that I believe needs improvement is the approach to peer review. As someone with a doctorate, I believe that peer reviews in an entry-level course like this are inappropriate and come across as a shortcut to reduce the grading workload. Knowing that my work will not receive professional feedback makes me feel undervalued as a student. While feedback from fellow learners is useful in public forums, in a structured classroom environment, it feels unproductive, given the wide range of backgrounds and skill levels. That being said, if this course was an advertisement for the author's new game, it definitely worked on me. I wishlisted it on Steam, and I’m excited to try it!

Really good detail on the workings of the industry and descriptions of different steps to game design. I did learn a huge amount! The only thing I would improve are that some of the tests are out of order so I had to struggle through them. I was not expecting to design and create an idea of a game altogether by the end but I am better for it.

The course content is okay, but it seems a bit hastily put together. The content of the modules and the questions in the tests are not always congruent. The learning content for some questions is missing. The effort and level of detail required for the creation of the Game Design Document are relatively extensive in comparison to the learning content in the four chapters. Anyway, the task of putting together a Game Design Document is a great learning-by-doing exercise. So the course was worth the time.

Not sure if an entire chapter was missing, but the quizzes didn't match up with the chapters. Some things that were on the quiz where for future chapters, which made it difficult to follow, and pass. Also, everything they want for the final assignment is just overwhelming with all the info they expect you put into a design document with little guidance. I think they should have said, have a game idea ready in all aspects in the beginning.