Game Design and Development 5: Capstone Project (Coursera)

Game Design and Development 5: Capstone Project (Coursera)

In the game design and development capstone course, you will create an original game from initial concept up to the first playable version! Along the way, you will have the opportunity to put your game ideas in front of your peers. The capstone experience gives you the opportunity to push your skills further and demonstrate your newfound skills as a game developer. The capstone also contains guest talks from game industry professionals at Riot Games, Blizzard Entertainment, Insomniac Games, Gearbox Entertainment, Iron Galaxy, Deep Silver Volition, Goodgame Studios, Stardock, GREE, Heart Shaped Games, and more.

Class Deals by MOOC List - Click here and see Coursera's Active Discounts, Deals, and Promo Codes.

Course 5 of 5 in the Game Design and Development with Unity 2020 Specialization.

Syllabus

WEEK 1
Your Game Idea
Welcome to the Game Design and Development Capstone. In this module I will give you a little bit of a sense of what to expect over the coming weeks. I am going to be honest with you though, this is going to be a fair amount of work. As you have learned, making games takes time and effort. And the goal of the Capstone is to prove that you have the knowledge, skills, and attitude to make games. So, get ready to flex those game design and development muscles that you have developed across the specialization. The first thing you need to do is come up with a game idea and then flesh it out into a high concept and pitch.

WEEK 2
Early Prototype, Blueprint, and Progress Report
Now you have to start the process of making your game a reality through early prototyping. No matter how you do this, either as a non-digital prototype or a digital prototype, you need to start building and testing some of your core gameplay systems and mechanics. Along the way, it is helpful to further document your design by creating "Design Blueprints". The result of this module is an early progress report to make sure you are on track.

WEEK 3
First Playable and Fun Test
The next step is the hardest one. It is time to fire up Unity and start game dev'ing. The goal is to build the first playable version of the game. With the first playable you are able to truly playtest and iterate on the game to "find the fun." Good luck.

WEEK 4
Finishing Up
You are almost to the finish line! In this module, you finish up and submit your first playable prototype for peer review. I will also discuss what would be the next steps for your project if it shows promise, in the "Preparing to Ship" lecture. I also included several "Career Journey and Advice" guest lectures. Watch as many of these as you like. And last, but not least, I will close out the course and specialization by discussing your possible "Future Directions" after this course.

Go to Class
MOOC List is learner-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Related Courses

Game Design and Development 2: 2D Platformer (Coursera) Coursera
Michigan State University

Game Design and Development 2: 2D Platformer (Coursera)

If you love games and want to learn how to make them, then this course is your second step down that path. In this course you will learn the fundamentals of game design, including an understanding of the game world, storytelling, gameplay, user experience, and game technology. You will continue developing videogames using industry standard game development tools, including the Unity game engine. At the end of the course you will have completed a 2D Platformer game, and will be able to leverage an array of game development techniques to create your own basic games.

Oct 12th 2026
4 Weeks
A Blueprint for Success – Your Video Pre-Production (Coursera) Coursera
University of Colorado Boulder

A Blueprint for Success – Your Video Pre-Production (Coursera)

In this course, we will learn about pre-production, which requires levels of planning before you ever pick up a camera. We will share with you the terminology used widely in production work, along with our ideas for affordable camera gear and editing applications. We’ll also discuss strategies to help you generate story ideas and the focus, find characters, write treatments and scripts, draw storyboards, and even pointers on how to pitch your stories.

Oct 12th 2026
3 Weeks
Foundations of User Experience (UX) Design (Coursera) Coursera
Google

Foundations of User Experience (UX) Design (Coursera)

Foundations of User Experience (UX) Design is the first of a series of seven courses that will equip you with the skills needed to apply to entry-level jobs in user experience design. UX designers focus on the interactions that people have with products like websites, mobile apps, and physical objects. UX designers make those everyday interactions usable, enjoyable, and accessible. The role of an entry-level UX designer might include empathizing with users, defining their pain points, coming up with ideas for design solutions, creating wireframes, prototypes, and mockups, and testing designs to get feedback.

Oct 15th 2026
4 Weeks
Developing AR/VR/MR/XR Apps with WebXR, Unity & Unreal (Coursera) Coursera
University of Michigan

Developing AR/VR/MR/XR Apps with WebXR, Unity & Unreal (Coursera)

This third course in the XR for Everybody specialization is geared toward the technical development of XR experiences. The course provides learners with a more technical mental model of XR technologies and the tools to approach XR development with confidence. It walks through the stages of development for both VR and AR projects, introducing the main XR development platforms as well as the key methods and tools. This third course also helps learners infer advanced XR requirements from physical/digital prototypes and teaches them how to differentiate major technical concerns, estimate development costs, and plan research necessary to advance XR.

Oct 12th 2026
4 Weeks
Intermediate Object-Oriented Programming for Unity Games (Coursera) Coursera
University of Colorado System

Intermediate Object-Oriented Programming for Unity Games (Coursera)

This course is the third course in the specialization about learning how to develop video games using the C# programming language and the Unity game engine on Windows or Mac. Why use C# and Unity instead of some other language and game engine? Well, C# is a really good language for learning how to program and then programming professionally. Also, the Unity game engine is very popular with indie game developers; Unity games were downloaded 16,000,000,000 times in 2016! Finally, C# is one of the programming languages you can use in the Unity environment.

Oct 12th 2026
4 Weeks
Getting Started with GameMaker (Coursera) Coursera
University of Colorado System

Getting Started with GameMaker (Coursera)

This course is all about starting to learn how to develop video games using GameMaker on Windows or Mac. Why use GameMaker instead of using C# and Unity or C++ and Unreal*? Learning to develop games with GameMaker is much easier than learning to program in C# or C++ AND learning Unity or Unreal. If you just want to start learning how to develop games in a more "gentle" way, this is a great starting point.

Oct 12th 2026
4 Weeks
Introduction to C# Programming and Unity (Coursera) Coursera
University of Colorado System

Introduction to C# Programming and Unity (Coursera)

This course is all about starting to learn how to develop video games using the C# programming language and the Unity game engine on Windows or Mac. Why use C# and Unity instead of some other language and game engine? Well, C# is a really good language for learning how to program and then programming professionally. Also, the Unity game engine is very popular with indie game developers; Unity games were downloaded 16,000,000,000 times in 2016! Finally, C# is one of the programming languages you can use in the Unity environment.

Oct 12th 2026
4 Weeks
User Experience & Interaction Design for AR/VR/MR/XR (Coursera) Coursera
University of Michigan

User Experience & Interaction Design for AR/VR/MR/XR (Coursera)

This second course in the XR for Everybody specialization looks at how to design new user experiences for XR technologies. The course provides learners with a design thinking mindset and equips them with a fundamental toolbox for creating XR applications using rapid prototyping. It starts with a broad overview of the complete XR design process, discussing different paths to becoming an XR creator, what is generally involved in making XR experiences, and how to best get started.

Oct 12th 2026
4 Weeks
Foundations of Objective-C App Development (Coursera) Coursera
University of California, Irvine

Foundations of Objective-C App Development (Coursera)

An introduction to the Objective-C programming language. This will prepare you for more extensive iOS app development and build a foundation for advanced iOS development topics. Objective-C programming requires a Mac laptop or desktop computer. An iOS device is optional if the learner is willing to working exclusively with the simulator. Some learners have been able to work with an OS X virtual machine on Windows, but explaining how to do that is beyond the scope of this course.

Oct 12th 2026
4 Weeks
Diseño de videojuegos (Coursera) Coursera
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

Diseño de videojuegos (Coursera)

Dentro de la creación del videojuego, ¿qué papel juega su diseño? Este curso proporciona conocimientos y pautas sobre cómo diseñar un videojuego. Partiendo desde un concepto básico, se dan las pautas para trabajar correctamente sus conentidos, de cara a conseguir un objetivo claro: el documento de “game concept” que constituye el documento inicial sobre el que se basa cualquier videojuego.

Oct 19th 2026
4 Weeks
Game Design and Development 1: 2D Shooter (Coursera) Coursera
Michigan State University

Game Design and Development 1: 2D Shooter (Coursera)

If you love games and want to learn how to make them, then this course will start you down that path. Making games is a creative and technical art form. In this course you will familiarize yourself with the tools and practices of game development and well as the process. You will get started developing video games using industry standard game development tools, including the Unity 2020 game engine. At the end of the course you will have completed two hands-on projects, including an Intro to Unity project and a 2D Shooter game, and will be able to leverage an array of game development techniques to create your own basic games.

Oct 12th 2026
4 Weeks