Critically explore cyberpunk as a concept in artistic reception and production. Read, watch, and play key artworks of the genre and analyse their shared motifs, tropes, and worldbuilding strategies. Supplement your understanding with theoretical texts. Examine how the experience of cyberpunk can be captured in game design. Realise your own contribution to cyberpunk videogames based on your analytical insights.By the end of the semester, you will be able to identify artworks belonging to the cyberpunk genre, critically understand the importance of their main features, and understand in general how to adapt genre markers for your own game design routine.

Sessions featuring discussions, student presentations, and shared game lab sessions.

The seminar gives students an overview of the most important works of the cyberpunk genre. It focuses on three types of cultural artefacts: prose literature, film, and videogame.A complete list of artworks discussed will be provided with a syllabus during the first session.

The seminar draws from various artistic and intellectual sources. Shorter texts, mainly in the shape of theoretical secondary reading, will be provided on Moodle.Students are expected to buy or otherwise familiarise themselves with specific artworks relevant to their examination.Foundational works for the seminar are:Bartle, Richard. 2003. Designing Virtual Worlds. San Francisco: New Riders.VanderMeer, Jeff. 2018. Wonderbook: The Illustrated Guide to Creating Imaginative Fiction. London: Abrams & Chronicle Books.Please note that this course description has been adopted and slightly adapted from the class Issues in Game Studies: Cyberpunk (20W).

The seminar features four pillars of assessment. Students mustpresent a film or book (20%)host a game lab focused on a videogame (30%)hand in a final project in the form of a research poster, a prototype game project, or a short paper (30%).participate in classes and discussions (20%)Students receiving a negative grade in any one pillar will fail the entire class.

Film or book presentation: Students (either alone or in a group, depending on the number of participants) must present a film or book chosen from a canon of cyberpunk artworks (Worth 20% of the final mark).Game Lab hosting: Students (either alone or in a group, depending on the number of participants) must host a game lab featuring a videogame that is chosen from a canon of cyberpunk artworks. This means that they ought to familiarise themselves with a videogame, then present and play it together with all seminar participants during a seminar session (Worth 30% of the final mark).Research poster / prototype game projects / short paper: Students ought to collect their understanding of what defines a cyberpunk world on a scientifically founded, self-created poster. Alternatively, a prototype game project can be created with similar content and goals, in combination with a short post-mortem. Players must be allowed to exert agency with or be influenced by, cyberpunk tropes and topics. Students may work as a group for the prototype, but not for the other two options. As a third option, a short paper (around 1000 words) can be handed in, critically reflecting on what was learned in class,  analysing a cyberpunk-related artwork, or exploring game design in regards to the cyberpunk genre (Worth 30% of the final mark).Participation in class and in discussions (Worth 20% of the final mark).

Presentation:PreparednessContent relevanceInclusion of research literatureSelection of quotes or scenesRelevance of discussion questionsDiscussion managementGame Lab:PreparednessContent presentationProvision of gameplay experiencePortrayed expertiseInclusion of seminar participantsRelevance of discussion questionsDiscussion managementFinal Project:Outlining critical insights of the seminar Reliance on additional resources Demonstrating critical thoughtProvision of the final submission in time before the deadlineParticipation:AttendanceProperly announcing/excusing missed attendanceContributions to discussionsGeneral remark on our code of conduct and plagiarism policy:Provide properly cited sources (latest Chicago Manual of Style format) on all your assignments.Have a look at the departmental policy: (https://www.aau.at/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/anti-plagiarism-declaration_english-department.pdf)Students caught plagiarising will be removed from class immediately.Read the Code of Conduct on our departmental homepage (https://www.aau.at/en/english/study/code-ofconduct/). Violation of this code will result in your immediate removal from class.Grading 85-100% Sehr Gut A175%-84% Gut B260%-74% Befriedigend C350%-59% Genügend D4<50% Nicht Genügend F5 (Fail Grade)