Presents
Game Design / Critical Thinking / Creative Planning
A hands-on creative workshop that turns play into real design skills, helping teens and young adults understand what makes great games work.
Students break down popular games, then use that thinking to shape their own ideas.
Why Play Matters
Play is not just fun. It is a vital part of how young minds learn, test ideas, and grow. By looking at games as designed experiences, students start to see them in a new way: not just as players, but as designers.
Video games engage huge audiences worldwide, but the real magic is learning how designers shape challenge, emotion, curiosity, and reward. This workshop turns that curiosity into a practical design process.
Inside the Workshop
The workshop breaks game design into clear, creative steps. Students explore how strong ideas form, how design problems get solved, and how to present a concept that feels ready to build.
Students learn how to turn an idea into a strong game concept by using brainstorming techniques, themes, and core pillars that shape the player experience.
Designers face tricky problems, from balancing difficulty to keeping players engaged. Students learn to approach those problems flexibly and think outside the obvious answer.
By the end, each student leaves with a fully developed game concept featuring a unique world, original mechanics, and ideas they can continue to build on.
Industry-Proven Expertise
Arcade Academy is proud to have Haris Iqbal leading its summer workshop, a game designer and former journalist with over 10 years of experience in the video game industry.
This workshop is not just about video games. It helps learners solve problems, tell compelling stories, and think like designers.
"Haris Iqbal's talk was a dynamic journey through the heart of Games. By the session's end, the students had collected more than just insights, they had a roadmap for action."
"Your presentation was spot on, and really helpful for the students. They all also benefitted a great deal from the time you spent with each of them looking at their work."
How Does It Work?
The workshop is built to be focused, personal, and easy to join from home, with enough space for questions and feedback.
Aimed at teenagers 13+ because of the games discussed. Younger students may join with parental guidance.
Delivered online via Discord. Booking emails include the server link and worksheets.
Each session has up to 12 students, giving enough time for questions and personal feedback.
Parents are welcome, and encouraged, to sit alongside their child during the workshop.
Interested in signing up? Send us a message with your details and we will get back to you with the next steps, workshop information, and everything you need to know.