In the classroom, in the craft
I teach Game Production and Artificial Intelligence at George Brown Polytechnic in Toronto, both first-year courses. My classrooms are places where students build and ship, not just study, and I hold them to higher expectations than they're used to. The goal isn't just to introduce the concepts. It's to accelerate them.
What I teach
Game Production
How games actually get made, from the ground up. Scoping, milestones, team dynamics, vertical slices, and the cascade of small decisions that determine whether a project ships. The course runs Studio Simulator, a custom production sim where students manage a studio, make investments, and navigate weekly market events before carrying those instincts into their own team project. The bar is set deliberately higher than most first-year courses.
Artificial Intelligence
AI for games and interactive media, the practical kind, introduced to students who are still finding their footing as developers. Pathfinding, state machines, behavior trees, utility-based decision systems, and the hard question of how to make opponents that feel intelligent without being unfair. Heavy Unity focus, with written devlogs each week. Expectations are calibrated high from day one.
How I teach
- Interactivity over lecture.Most class sessions include live coding, in-class exercises, or scenario work that forces students to make the kind of judgment calls they'll face as developers. Slides are a last resort.
- Ship something real.Every course ends with students showing work that runs, compiles, or plays. Grades are anchored to what's actually on screen, not just what's on the page.
- Constraints as a teaching tool.Tight scope, short timelines, and specific technical limits produce more learning, and more creative solutions, than open-ended projects.
- Iteration and critique.Structured peer review every couple of weeks, modelled on studio practice. Students learn to give feedback that builds the work, not just evaluates it.
- Studio-practice crossover.Examples and case studies come from real shipping work, including the Hexploration devlog. When the studio hits something interesting, the classroom hears about it that week.
Who's this page for?
Current or prospective
If you're in one of my classes, office hours and resources live in the course LMS. If you're considering George Brown Polytechnic's game programs, feel free to reach out with questions.
Happy to swap notes
I'm glad to share exercises, rubrics, or talk through curriculum design, especially around interactive classroom formats and AI pedagogy. Drop me a line.
Guest talks welcome
I give guest lectures, workshops, and full-day sessions on production, AI, and making things ship. Book via the speaking form.
Want me at your school or event?
I travel for talks and workshops. The speaking form is the fastest way to get a response; it collects everything I need to say yes or no quickly.