Jasper's+game+design


 * IDEAS FOR SERIOUS GAMES**toc

Middle school students enjoy games but teachers don't appreciate that. Teachers feel that students should read and write to gain greater understanding about world issues. The problem to be solved is to make a serious game that is about a world issue.

**Requirements:**

 * 1) Game must be accessible to the intended players
 * 2) Game must be well-paced to be enjoyable
 * 3) Game must be challenging to the intended players.
 * 4) Game must have a clear goal
 * 5) Game must be winable.

** Constraints: **

 * 1) It must be possible to create this game with the tools available to middle school students (computers, wikis, blogs, cardboard, poster board, glue, colored pencils, markers, scissors, rulers, paper cutter, exacto knives, glue guns, found objects, dice, spinners, and other common items found in the home and school)

1. A Serious Game Using Gamestar Mechanic that follows the design brief.

I don't really have much of a plan for using Gamestar Mechanic. the way how I want my game to work seriously clashes against the way how Gamestar works. I want my game to express peace, not using violence to get what you want, and using the power of words. Gamestar Mechanic is not ideal because I don't want my players just to walk through levels avoiding enemies and picking up things. I want it to be something hands on sort of, like you're actually communicating with other people. I just don't see Gamestar Mechanic as a part of my game design

__Core mechanics__

The core mechanics of this game would be hard to think of for my idea, but i guess you have the plot, the goal, and what will try to stop you from that goal. these things are what a basic game in Gamestar mechanic would be. Using Gamestar mechanic constrains what I really want to do with my game because it's situated around making arcade games or something like that. I don't like that and that's why I'm not using it to create my serious game.

2. A Serious Game Mod for an Exisiting Boardgame that follows the design brief.

If I had to choose an existing board game to base my game off of, i would most likely use Shoots And Ladders. the thing with Shoots And Ladders is that it signifies the ups and downs that occur in Iran and the Middle East right now. An example of a ladder could be something such as you help talk a terrorist out of detonating a chest bomb he has strapped to himself. An example of a shoot could be something like you fail to prevent the Taliban from attacking a school or local village. The way to complete this game would be to make it to the end of the board where you are one of the negotiators picked to return back to the U.S. You could probably play with a maximum of 4-6 players, using a pair of dice to to determine how many spaces you can move ahead

__Core mechanics__

the core mechanics of my board game would be the plot, the goal, the obstacles, the situation, and the pieces. All of these things are important for my Shoots and Ladders game because the first three things I listed are essential for any game and the game pieces are what represent the players. These core mechanics are all essential for my game to run smoothly when I make it.

3. A Serious Game -- Free Choice that follows the design brief.

uuuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhhh. hhhhhhhmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. (sigh). Now lets see. I guess if I had the free choice, I would probably go with the Shoots And Ladders design. I think it really goes well with what I expect out of this project. It could use a few tune ups here and there, but I think the Shoots And Ladders design is ideal for my game design. I really can't think much of how the design would go out right now, but I'll probably get more ideas later on, but this is it for now. I'll think hard about my design.

__Core mechanics__

the core mechanics for my free choice are the same as my core mechanics for my board game. since my board game would be my free choice, both things are the same.