# CSCI E-23a: Introduction to Game Development — Course Website and Final Project
## CSCI E-23a: Introduction to Game Development
CSCI E-23a is listed as “Introduction to Game Development,” a course offering under Harvard’s Extension School naming convention, where the “E-” prefix marks an Extension School section. It appears to correspond to the widely circulated CS50-branded game development curriculum, which walks through the design and implementation of classic games—covering topics such as 2D and 3D graphics, animation, sound, physics, and the underlying principles of game design—using engines and frameworks introduced across successive lecture units. Sources available here do not confirm the specific term-by-term syllabus, enrollment requirements, or instructor of record for the CSCI E-23a section, so those details should be treated as unverified.
The publicly published course materials associated with this line of instruction are organized as a sequence of projects, each tied to a recreated or reimagined game, with accompanying lecture notes and distribution code. The general shape of the course—learning game development concepts by building playable games incrementally—is consistent across the published material, but the precise mapping between the CSCI E-23a course code and any particular edition of that material is not independently corroborated in the sources at hand.
## The Course Website at cs50.github.io/games/
A course website for this subject is reported to be hosted at [cs50.github.io/games/](https://cs50.github.io/games/). That claim has not been independently cross-checked, and it should be read as unconfirmed: the sources here do not establish that the page at that address is the official website *for the CSCI E-23a section specifically*, as opposed to a shared CS50 game development resource used across multiple offerings or platforms. Whether CSCI E-23a maintains its own distinct course website, points students to this page, or uses a separate learning-management system is an open question that the available evidence does not settle.
What can be said with more confidence is that the [cs50.github.io/games/](https://cs50.github.io/games/) address is the canonical GitHub Pages location published under the CS50 organization for game development course content. Readers looking for the primary materials—lecture information, project specifications, and distribution code—would reasonably start there, while keeping in mind that the association between that page and the exact CSCI E-23a course code remains uncorroborated in the sources reviewed for this article.
## The Final Project in Introduction to Game Development
The course is reported to culminate in a final project, in which students design and build a game of their own rather than following a prescribed specification. This too is presented here with explicit uncertainty: the sources available do not independently confirm that CSCI E-23a includes a final project, nor do they document its requirements, grading criteria, scope, or submission process. Those particulars remain open and should not be assumed.
Publicly available student work does, however, illustrate the *kind* of output associated with an open-ended final project in this subject area. One such example is the repository [sdmogensen/final-fantasy-50](https://github.com/sdmogensen/final-fantasy-50), a game project published on GitHub whose naming echoes both the *Final Fantasy* series and the CS50 “-50” convention. The existence of such a repository is consistent with a course that asks students to produce an individual game as a capstone, but it does not by itself prove the structure, requirements, or existence of a formal final project within the CSCI E-23a section. It is offered as an illustrative artifact, not as documentation of course policy.
In short, both the course-website address and the final-project component are plausibly part of CSCI E-23a’s structure, but neither is settled by the evidence gathered here. Prospective or current students should verify the current course website, the status of any final project, and the associated requirements directly through official Harvard Extension School or CS50 channels before relying on them.
For an engine-focused starting point, see Godot Engine Explained: Open-Source, Multi-Platform 2D and 3D Game Development.
Comments
7 responses to “CSCI E-23a: Introduction to Game Development — Course Website and Final Project”
[…] Developers approaching game programming from a coursework or fundamentals angle — game loops, state, collision — may find it helpful to pair a framework study with a structured curriculum, such as the material covered in CSCI E-23a: Introduction to Game Development. […]
[…] looking for a fuller curriculum around the same skills may want this site’s write-up of Harvard’s CSCI E-23a introduction to game development. Used together with the book, the repository turns each chapter from something to be transcribed […]
[…] from, like the full source of the SFML Game Development book; and structured coursework, such as Harvard’s CSCI E-23a introduction to game development. A curated index and those standalone resources are complementary — the list points outward […]
[…] approaching the field from a course-based route, this pairs naturally with a worked example such as Harvard’s CSCI E‑23a introduction to game development and its final project, where the list is the directory and the course is one path through […]
[…] For a course-length route into practical game development, see CSCI E-23a: Introduction to Game Development — Course Website and Final Project. […]
[…] For a course-length route into practical game development, see CSCI E-23a: Introduction to Game Development — Course Website and Final Project. […]
[…] see our summary of CSCI E-23a, an introductory game development course with a final project, in the course website and final project write-up. Link lists work best as a supplement once a reader knows which gap they need to […]