Beverlee'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.

A serious game using Gamestar Mechanic would be a flood game. Even though there are no flood blocks or anything to do with floods or water you could pretend the enemies are the "flood." Every time a "flood" hit you, you lose a life until you have no more lives. Also, you could pretend the points are your personal belonging that you want to save before the "flood" comes and ruins everything. So you would want to collect all the points ("belongings") before and during the "flood" when it comes and hits your "home" (your game).

Core Mechanics
 * 1) -Plot/Storyline (A flood has hit your home and you want to get all your belongings)
 * 2) -Goal (To collect all the points in the game)
 * 3) -Rules (You can't shoot the "flood" so you must get passed it before you run out of lives.)
 * 4) -Moving Parts (You avatar and your enemies.)
 * 5) -Territory

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

A serious game modification for an existing board game would be to change the cards in the board game Candyland. Each place you move is one place closer to safety before and during the flood. When you get a flood card, you have to get another flood card before you can go any further to safety. When you get a boat card, you can move a few more spaces ahead to a boat stop which would be closer to safety.

Core Mechanics
 * 1) -Plot/Storyline (You want to get to safety from the flood.)
 * 2) Goal (To get to safety first.)
 * 3) -Rule (There is a deck of cards. When you get a color card, you move to that color directly next on the board. If you get a flood card, you have to get a flood card again before you can move closer to safety. But if you get a boat card, you pick another card move double the amount of spaces you would for that color.)
 * 4) -Moving Parts
 * 5) -Territory

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

A game that you could playing using the topic floods would be a card game. You want to make the biggest barrier before the flood hits. Each time a player will choose a card and it will be different amounts of coins which you can use to make your barrier. You can also use the coins to help protect and save your personal belongings. If someone picks a flood card everyone is hit by the flood and they lose belongings. Depending on how well their barrier has been built will determined how many belongings they lose. The point of the game is to have the most belongings at the end of the game which will end once all the card have ran out.

Core Mechanics
 * 1) -Plot/Storyline (You want to make the biggest barrier so when the "flood" hits, you can save your belongings.)
 * 2) Goal (You want to have the most belongings at the end of the game.)
 * 3) -Rule (Each time a player will choose a card and it will be different amounts of coins which you can use to make your barrier. You can also use the coins to help protect and save your personal belongings. There are cards that have tools that you can buy that cost different amounts of coins to help build your barrier. If someone picks a flood card everyone is hit by the flood and they lose belongings. Depending on how well their barrier has been built will determined how many belongings they lose.)
 * 4) -Moving Parts
 * 5) -Territory