Since Jesuit High School Sacramento’s computer science curriculum began offering Honors Game Development, the class has undergone immense changes.

Honors Game Development teacher Mr. Peter Strawn ’04 has taught computer science at Jesuit for six years. He teaches a broad scope of video game topics in the class, from their code to their visuals and everything in between.

“[Game development is] all about, in my mind, studying the art, science, design, and beauty of video games,” Mr. Strawn said. “From the basics of how they’re made, to understanding the mechanics of the games that students already play and to building things of their own creativity.”

A few years ago, Mr. Strawn felt that a class was needed to expand the option for students taking computer science at Jesuit, and as a result, he created Honors Game Development.

“This class really started as an independent study during COVID when we had guys who had finished Advanced Placement Computer Science A (APCSA) as juniors,” Mr. Strawn said. “They didn’t really have anything else to take.” 

Having taken computer science for over two years at Jesuit, Jacob Frisch ’24 appreciates the variety that Honors Game Development brings to his knowledge of computer science.

“It’s just a really challenging class,” Jacob said. “I really enjoy all the languages we use, and all the different platforms we use to try to create something. Just the whole idea of creating something [is enjoyable], too, because the final project is just making your own game, and it’s really fun.”

Due to the intrinsic complexity of the course, Mr. Strawn deemed the class worthy of the “Honors” label.

“It made sense for the course to merit an honors point because it requires a significant amount of knowledge,” Mr. Strawn said. “It’s not a beginner-friendly course. Because of the rigor of the course, it deserved students getting an extra point because they had to have already done quite a bit of work just to get to that point.”

Unfortunately, because of the course’s intensive prerequisites and rigor, many students feel discouraged from taking the class. In response to this issue, Mr. Strawn has created the one semester elective “Intro to Game Development” for the 2024-25 school year; he believes that video games are an art form that everyone should be able to learn about and appreciate.

“Honors Game Development is not built for beginners,” Mr. Strawn said. “A student who has never programmed before is not going to be able to take the course and get up to speed unless they just happen to be a prodigy at programming that hadn’t yet been discovered. But [Intro to Game Development] provides that chance to begin exploring this artistic medium, both from a programming side and a design side, without having that barrier to entry.”

Both Honors Game Development and Intro to Game Development are constantly growing, and the subject is clearly a topic that Mr. Strawn has a great passion for. Whether you are a seasoned coder or just casually interested in video games, these classes are a great option to broaden your computer science horizons.