Many of us would rather stay home and play video games than have to go to school or work. A new course at the University of Regina allows students to play video games as their homework, then discuss them in class.
“We’ve been talking about developing our videogame focus in creative technologies and having a stream for our students to pursue that” stated Dr. Aislinn McDougall when asked about how the class was pitched to the University.
The course was pitched earlier this year, and McDougall explained that “In creative technologies, we’re such a group of fresh minds who are excited about innovating for students and staying up to date with things, so it didn’t take a lot of convincing”. McDougall said that the creative technology department was excited about the idea, given that many of those instructors are gamers themselves.
She explained how the creative technology department has been building their video game courses throughout the years, so this kind of course just made sense. In addition, she explained how students in other creative technology classes tend to gravitate towards videogames in their projects when possible, so it only felt natural to create this kind of course.
McDougall noted how other video game courses focus on building games, so it made sense to have a class focused on studying them, “It fit logically to have a studies class … I think it’s super valuable to sit down and play something beginning to end and study it. How is it working? Why is it effective?”
Throughout the course, students have played video games from every era and different genres, from games like Pac-Man to BioShock, games from 1962 to 2025. Students in this course study why certain games were so impactful from their narratives to staple innovations in game design.
This being the first time this class has ever been offered, McDougall hasn’t completely gauged what students are taking away from the course. One thing that she has taken away is that the class of 50 students encompasses a large spectrum when it comes to personal interests.
Every week the class dives into a new game, and the students participate in different discussions based on that week’s theme. Through these discussions, McDougall has learned that every game has a group of students that love it, and a group that hates it.
When I inquired about how the games were chosen, McDougall explained that while she initially was going to do more of a survey on games, she found that certain games don’t need nearly as much time as others. Another thing that was important to consider was how accessible certain games are.
Instead of paying for textbooks, in this class you’ll be buying a bunch of videogames. Unfortunately, certain games aren’t as easy to access, especially if they’re old.
“I had to think about what was accessible and what was affordable, and then there were other ones like BioShock, you have to teach BioShock”
It’s too early to hear feedback from the creative technology department, but McDougall expressed that she is very impressed with the class, and she’s excited to think about what she can bring the next time she teaches this class in the Winter 2027 semester.
