Renaissance Heritage Meets Interactive Media
Art, History, and Imagination
This course examines the art, architecture, and cultural history of the Italian Renaissance with an emphasis on site-specific learning. Students will explore key landmarks featured in Assassin's Creed II, studying their historical and cultural significance through lectures, guided tours, and creative interpretation.
The class highlights how Renaissance art and architecture continue to inspire modern storytelling, particularly in video games and other popular media. By analyzing how these sites are re-imagined in Assassin's Creed II, students gain insight into the interplay between historical accuracy and creative adaptation, and how the past shapes immersive worlds today.
A Game Design Workshop
This course explores how visual traditions inform modern interactive media. Students develop original game concepts inspired by their explorations of Florence, experimenting with drawing, concept art, physical prototyping, and basic digital tools.
Through studio sessions and on-site sketching, participants learn how observation translates into design. The course emphasizes creative problem-solving, iterative development, and collaboration, culminating in playable prototypes that reflect both personal vision and the cultural context of Florence.
Unlock unique abilities by studying game design in the Renaissance capital
Start where perspective, narrative art, and visual storytelling were invented—core mechanics that power every modern game.
Every street is a playable level. Study architecture, lighting, and composition by walking through a living game world.
Master visual language first, code second. Learn composition, color theory, and storytelling from Renaissance masters.
Understand how European heritage shapes game narratives worldwide—from Dark Souls to Assassin's Creed.
8-12 players per class means actual feedback from your mentor, not getting lost in a 200-person lecture hall.
Build a portfolio that actually stands out. Nobody else has game prototypes inspired by 500-year-old frescoes.
Start your game design journey in Florence