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Game Design Essentials. designing games with learning content Nick Fortugno. Introduction. Nick Fortugno Co-Founder/CCO of Rebel Monkey Previously Director of Game Design, Gamelab Lecturer at Parsons The New School of Design on Game Design & Interactive Narrative. Introduction.
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Game Design Essentials designing games with learning content Nick Fortugno
Introduction Nick Fortugno Co-Founder/CCO of Rebel Monkey Previously Director of Game Design, Gamelab Lecturer at Parsons The New School of Design on Game Design & Interactive Narrative
Introduction Discussion of designing games as teaching tools What can games teach? How do they teach?
Game design fundamentals learning-oriented games are still games
Game design fundamentals learning-oriented games are still games games are systems
Game design fundamentals learning-oriented games are still games games are systems built of rules
Game design fundamentals learning-oriented games are still games games are systems built of rules that create play
Game design fundamentals learning-oriented games are still games games are systems built of rules that create play game designers create the rules
Game design fundamentals embrace the “gameness” of games competition and cooperation pleasure and frustration the process of play
Let’s play a game! get into groups of 4-6 players each group has a deck of 15 cards each player has 10 clips of any color shuffle cards and place into three stacks of 5 cards put all your beads in your left hand now you are ready to play
Dungeon Attack! A bidding game with “gamer” content - turn over the top card on the first deck secretly put beads in your right hand (your bid) players reveal bids all at once the highest UNIQUE bid gets the card leave the beads you bid in front of you start a new card & new bid after 5 cards, you get all your beads back do the next two decks the player with the most points at the end wins
Discussion what was your group’s experience? what were the elements of the system? what kind of play did the rules create?
Process, not data games are good at procedures, not information
Process, not data games are good at procedures, not information designing a game is creating an activity, not content
Example 1 Ayiti: The Cost of Life Teaches about poverty as an barrier to education
Example 1 Ayiti: The Cost of Life Players guide the Guinard family, giving them jobs and sending them to school
Example 1 Ayiti: The Cost of Life The use of poverty is the system forces hard strategic choices.
Example 2 Constitutional Convention LARP Designed to teach middle school students Constitutionalhistory
Example 2 • What you want • The delegates from Maryland, representing one of the smaller states, want to have equal representation, one state – one vote, in congress. • - The best case scenario is simply equal representation for the states. (+5 points) • - You can compromise a little. Just don’t let population be the only thing that determines representation. (+2 points) • You, Luther Martin, are opposed to slavery in general and wanted to ban the slave trade. • - The only moral and right position would be to ban slavery entirely in the new constitution. (+7 points) • - Maryland’s people did not approve of counting slaves as part of a state’s population to be represented. (+3 points) Constitutional Convention LARP Points used to encourage emergent negotiation conventional politics.
Process, not data games are good at procedures, not information designing a game is creating an activity, not content choose system-based content for your project work with a game-appropriate learning model translate the learning content
Redesign! select one learning content redesign the game by changing up to 3 rules - modify the cards or beads - shift the balance of public & private information - play with the turn order or sequence - create and include a map or board - alter winning conditions or player relationships - make a special role for one player stay focused on having your learning content embodied in the activity of the game
Discuss what did you do? what worked and what didn’t work? what was most challenging? could this become a viable learning game?
Closing thoughts game development and game design is hard this is not an accurate simulation of the process games have strengths and weakness as learning tools design for the larger context
Thank you! Nick Fortugno nick@rebelmonkey.com www.rebelmonkey.com