Kylie'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.

Using Gamestar Mechanic to create a serious game, it would be about the destruction of coral reefs. It could be about the life of a coral. The setting of the game would be in the bottom of the deep blue sea. Your avatar would be the coral and the avatar would have a certain amount of health. The enemy sprites would be anything trying to harm the coral reefs. For example, some tourists go to the Buccoo Reef and pick the corals. There are also other causes of the coral reef destruction such as coral bleaching. Since in the game Gamestar Mechanic, you have different goals, the goal in my game would be to avoid the enemy sprites and survive with the specific amount of health you have. There will be a goal block somewhere and yyou have to navigate around everything collecting points and health sprites. The main purpose is to show how dangerous it is for a coral reef and how there are many things putting it at risk. Each danger has different strengths and powers. It would most likely be more challenging and fast-paced to stress how hard it is for some corals to survive in the ocean.


 * Elements**
 * Water background
 * An avatar
 * 15 - 20 enemy sprites
 * A goal block
 * Challenging levels
 * Health sprites
 * 100+ points

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

The boardgame I would modify would be checkers. Each of the pieces will represent a piece of property. On each side of the checker pieces, there are two differnt symbols distinguishing each team. All the pieces are the same color. The pieces are set up the same way as checkers, but they can move left, right, or forward but not diagonal or backwards. As you gain your opponent's pieces by jumping over them, you add them to your side starting on the first row on your side in whatever place you choose. The objective of the game is to claim all or as many of the pieces as you can. You can either play until someone has no pieces left or until time runs out. The scenario in my game is, you're trying to save the coral reefs. You own some of the reefs but an opponent is using it just for tourists attraction. You have to try to get all their pieces of coral reefs to restore them to its natural beauty and put it to good use. This helps you be determined to help save the coral reefs.


 * Elements**
 * Checkerboard with coral reefs
 * 12 game pieces with a Starfish
 * 12 game pieces with a Shell

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

A serious game I could make would be similar to monopoly. There are spaces around the board that are coral reefs owned by the //Super Sites Tourist Company.// They use the coral reefs just to get money. It is your job to go around and buy them out to save the coral reefs. You each start out with one coral reef that gets a certain amount of money for each turn. The coral reef you get is used for tourism to get you some money to get started. When you earn enough money, you can buy some of the other coral reefs in other locations. Then try and buy out the //Super Sites Company.// The goal of the game is to earn as much money as possible and save as many coral reefs as you can. In some of the spaces on the board, they would indicate for you to draw a card from a pile. Each card has some news on it. Some might be good and others might be bad. You have to spend your money wisely and battle against tourist companies using coral reefs for money.


 * Elements**

Board with 40 spaces:
 * Paper money
 * Pair of dice
 * Deeds
 * 4 game pieces
 * 22 coral reef properties
 * 6 companies
 * 3 Chance spaces
 * 3 Community Chest
 * 1 Tax space
 * 1 Income space
 * 4 corners labeled :
 * 1) Year
 * 2) Plank
 * 3) Treasure Cove
 * 4) Walk the Plank