Play to Learn Learning Game Design Workshop

Learning solutions 2015

Presented by Dr. Karl Kapp Sharon Boller

Today’s Goal

• Experience the entire instructional game development process in one day.

• Your Mission? Complete a rough, rough prototype of an instructional game.

For: Notes/Slides

Additional Ideas www.karlkapp.com

www.karlkapp.com/kapp-notes

About Your Facilitator…

Lynda.com Course: Gamification of Learning Free Trial: Lynda.com/trial/KarlKapp

Blog: :www.karlkapp.com

Books

Twitter: @kkapp

Today’s Agenda Intro’s; game lingo

overview

Play Games! Game goals, core dynamics,

mechanics, game elements

Best practices to follow; pitfalls to avoid.

Break

Play Games! Putting learning into the game

Lunch

Game Design Guru – Q&A

Learning Game Creation:

Prototyping

Playtest w/ your team

Playtest w/ another team

Share what you learned; wrap

up

Break

At Your Tables…

• Introduce yourselves to each other….

– Your name

– Where you work (organization, city, state)

• Come up with a definition for the word “game”

• Your Mission? Complete intro’s in 15 minutes.

What we MEAN by game An activity that has an explicit goal or challenge, rules that guide achievement of the goal, interactivity with either other players or the game environment (or both), and feedback mechanisms that give clear cues as to how well or poorly you are performing. It results in a quantifiable outcome (you win/you lose, you hit the target, etc). Usually generates an emotional reaction in players.

Workbook p. 6

All Games

Learning Games

Simulations

Common industry term: “Serious Games”

What About “gamification?”

Here’s some examples BLP produced A Paycheck Away: A tabletop game about homelessness

Here’s some examples Bloomsburg IIT produced Manufacturing Mayhem: A digital game about manufacturing

Here’s some examples BLP produced Destroy the BBP: Avoiding blood-borne pathogens

Basic Game Lingo

Game goal – what player(s) have to do to win.

No goal. No game.

Core Dynamic what game play is about; what you have to do to win. Pick a dynamic to design around; it’s easier to get started that way.

Mechanics rules for players; rules for system. Rules define how people achieve the goal. Don’t make too hard or too easy.

Game Elements Features that help immerse you in game play Tinkering with one feature can entirely change play experience

Workbook pp 6 - 9

Anatomy of a Common game

1. What’s the game goal or objective? 2. What is the “core dynamic” – HOW do you win? 3. What are some of the “mechanics” or rules that

guide how you achieve the game goal? 4. What game elements are part of this game:

1. Aesthetics? 2. Story? 3. Strategy? 4. Chance? 5. Competition? 6. What else?

Workbook pp 6 - 9

Activity #1: Play/Evaluate Timeline

1. Work in your table group.

2. Select someone to be the “game master” who figures out how to play.

3. Play Timeline for 10-15 minutes.

4. Use worksheet on Page 10 to evaluate game.

Workbook pp 10

Summary – Timeline Evaluation

1. What was the game goal? Was it fun?

2. What was the core dynamic? Was it fun?

3. What were 1-3 mechanics (rules) that stood out? Did they help – or confuse you?

4. What game elements did you notice?

5. How did you know how you were doing? (What feedback did you get?)

Workbook pp 10

Activity #2: Play/Evaluate Spot It

1. Work in your table groups.

2. Select someone to be the “game master” who figures out how to play or regulates play.

3. Play Spot It for 10-15 minutes.

4. Use worksheet on Page 11 in workbook to evaluate game.

Workbook pp 11

Evaluate Spot It

1. What was the game goal? Was it fun?

2. What was the core dynamic? Was it fun?

3. What were 1-3 mechanics (rules) that stood out? Did they help – or confuse you?

4. What game elements did you notice?

5. How did you know how you were doing? (What feedback did you get?)

Workbook pp 11

Activity #3: Plants v Zombies

1. Access game from your mobile device (tablet or phone..

2. Play game for 10 minutes.

Workbook pp 12

Evaluate Plants vs Zombies

1. What was the game goal? Was it fun?

2. What was the core dynamic? Was it fun?

3. What were 1-3 mechanics (rules) that stood out? Did they help – or confuse you?

4. What game elements did you notice?

5. How did you know how you were doing? (What feedback did you get?)

Workbook pp 12

Activity #4: Question Activity

1. Brainstorm answers (or look up) for question you have been assigned.

2. Share answer with rest of group.

Workbook pp 13

Today’s Agenda Intro’s; game lingo

overview

Play Games! Game goals, core dynamics,

mechanics, game elements

Best practices to follow; pitfalls to avoid.

Break

Play Games! Putting learning into the game

Lunch

Game Design Guru – Q&A

Learning Game Creation:

Prototyping

Playtest w/ your team

Playtest w/ another team

Share what you learned; wrap

up

Break

Main Take-Aways

• Game goal ≠learning goal: you need BOTH.

• Before creating game, you: – Define instructional goal AND objectives; keep in focus as

you design the game to achieve them.

• Audience matters.

• As you design the game, you want learning rationale for these things: – Choice of game mechanics (rules)

– Game elements to include/exclude

– Rewards/scoring

Activity #5: Play/Evaluate Making Gold

1. We need a volunteer!

2. We’ll play Making Gold Game together, directing volunteer re: our choices/decisions.

3. Use worksheets on page 20 to evaluate game. Reference info on workbook, as needed, to complete evaluation worksheets.

Evaluate Making Gold Game 1. What was the game goal? Was it fun?

2. What was the learning goal? Did you learn?

3. What was the core dynamic? Was it fun?

4. What were 1-3 mechanics (rules) that stood out? Did they help – or confuse you?

5. What game elements did you notice?

6. How did you know how you were doing? (What feedback did you get?)

Workbook p 18

Demo: CPR Video 1. What was the simulation goal? Was it fun?

2. What was the learning goal? Did you learn?

3. Did you notice a core dynamic? Was it fun?

4. What were 1-3 mechanics (rules) that stood out? Did they help – or confuse you?

5. What game elements did you notice?

6. How did you know how you were doing? (What feedback did you get?)

Workbook p 21

Today’s Agenda Intro’s; game lingo

overview

Play Games! Game goals, core dynamics,

mechanics, game elements

Best practices to follow; pitfalls to avoid.

Break

Play Games! Putting learning into the game

Lunch

Game Design Guru – Q&A

Learning Game Creation:

Prototyping

Playtest w/ your team

Playtest w/ another team

Share what you learned; wrap

up

Break

Design the learning game to meet specific instructional

objectives.

Embed the learning game into a curriculum. Keep rules, scoring and

leveling simple.

Get learners comfortable with the rules and game play

before they start. Do not focus the game on “winning” only.

Create the game so learners work in groups.

Make the game interactive.

Plan for replayability.

The cognitive activities in the game should match the

cognitive activities on-the-job. Determine metrics ahead of time.

Winning should be primarily a result of knowledge

acquisition or creation.

Skipping Playtesting. Pitfalls Undertaking this process without playing games.

Skipping the pilot.

Trying to teach everything.

Focusing only on fun.

Today’s Agenda Intro’s; game lingo

overview

Play Games! (Game goals, core dynamics,

mechanics, game elements)

Best practices to follow; pitfalls to avoid.

Break

Play Games! Putting learning into the game

Lunch

Game Design Guru – Q&A

Learning Game Creation:

Prototyping

Playtest w/ your team

Playtest w/ another team

Share what you learned; wrap

up

Break

Post-Lunch Fun 1. Sit with your Game Design team members (Team # is on blue

provided to you at start of workshop)

2. Register for and play Game Design Guru: 1. http://www.theknowledgeguru.com/2015gamedesign/

2. You will need to identify a team # as part of registering for game play.

3. Spend 15 minutes playing Game Design Guru, working to achieve as high a team score as you can.

4. Team w/ highest score wins!

Today’s Agenda Intro’s; game lingo

overview

Play Games! (Game goals, core dynamics,

mechanics, game elements)

Best practices to follow; pitfalls to avoid.

Break

Play Games! Putting learning into the game

Lunch

Game Design Guru – Q&A

Learning Game Creation:

Prototyping

Playtest w/ your team

Playtest w/ another team

Self-assessment: next steps in

design; wrap up

Break

Dump ADDIE; go agile instead (iterative)

Playtest. Playtest. Did I say playtest?

Prototyping…what IS it?

• Visuals are probably better than words here.

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-nfWQLmlMk

Prototype example

Prototype example

Prototype Example

What can you learn from a prototype:

• How effective your game is at helping people learn what you want them to learn.

• How engaging the game will be to learners. Do you have a “fun enough” game goal and is your core dynamic one that keeps people interested?

• How effective the game elements are that you are using. Do the elements support your learning experience or detract from it?

• How clear the rules are AND how they affect the fun and the learning.

• The cognitive load on the learner – too high, too low, just right? • How complex the game might be to produce (w/out the expense of

producing it before you find out!!)

How do you create one?

• Paper

• Scissors

• Crayons or markers

• Tape

Activity: Learning Game Design Your Task • As a team, create and playtest a learning game in next 2 hours. The Process (page 24 in handouts) • Use game topic & content provided on page 25. • Decide on a core dynamic from list provided. • Determine a theme and a game goal. • Decide cooperative or competitive. • Create a paper prototype, defining game mechanics (aka rules) as

you go. • Playtest in your group.

Worksheet on pages 26-27 will guide you through creation of a topic, learning goal, objectives, and game design.

Key Design Milestones

• 1:20—Define Learning Goal, Game Goal, Game Dynamic and Theme. If getting close…just pick one.

• 2:30—Prototype Completed

• 3:00—Playtest completed within your own team.

• 3:45 Playtest completed with another team.

• 3:45-4:00—Share lesson’s learned and game with larger group

• 4:15—Conclusion

Keys to Success

• Agree on Learning Goals/Game Goals Quickly

– Not trying to be perfect

• Combine one or two familiar games.

• Board games are easiest to develop in compressed timeframe.

• Don’t need absolute agreement. Agree to compromise to focus on process, not content

– You will need some content to play the game.

• Don’t boil the ocean, teach one or two things.

The Playtest Process

Part 1: • Pair up with another team. Playtest

simultaneously. • One person from each team remains with their

game to act as an observer during play AND to provide guidance if a team gets “stuck” during play

• All other team members – play the games! • Playtest for 20 minutes.

The Playtest Process

Part 2: • Take turns giving each other feedback on game. • Observers for each team: Use questions on

page 28 of workbook to get feedback from playtesters. Use a “round robin” approach to getting answers from players. Get feedback on one team’s game, then switch and get/receive feedback on other game.

Today’s Agenda Intro’s; game lingo

overview

Play Games! (Game goals, core dynamics,

mechanics, game elements)

Best practices to follow; pitfalls to avoid.

Break

Play Games! Putting learning into the game

Lunch

Game Design Guru – Q&A

Learning Game Creation:

Prototyping

Playtest w/ your team

Playtest w/ another team

Share what you learned; wrap

up

Break

The Playtest Process

Part 3: • Return to your original groups.

• Determine what revision(s) you want to make to your game and why.

• Be prepared to share with large group: • Summary of results of your playtest. • A key learning from the day and the

prototyping/playtesting process. • We’ll allow 15 minutes (or so) for sharing.

Thank you from all of us!