Nelly'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.

My topic is the amazon ranforest. I can make a game of how the people are trying to survive the forest but people are trying to chop down the trees. You would have to get to the star and then you would win. This game would have a time limit so it would be fast paced and when people are chopping down the trees you can see the affects it has on the world.

Core Mechanics: Plot/Storyline- People are chopping down trees a lot more these days. You are living in the amazon rainforest and you have to stop them from destroying your home. So you would have to kill your enemies and get the star. Goal- The goal of the game is for the character to reach the star. When the character reaches the star it means that they stopped the people from destroying the rainforest.

Rules- The rules of the game are that you have to kill all the enemies, then get the star. You cannot get the star without killing the enemies.

Moving Parts- The moving parts are going to be the arrows and the spacebar to shoot things.

Territory- The territory of the game could have a background with trees and animals in it.

2. A Serious Game Mod for an Exisiting Boardgame that follows the design brief. A game that i could base my game on is the game sorry. People have to get to their home so they would have to answer questions about the amazon rainforest. My game could also include information about how chopping down trees in the amazon rainforest can affect the environment. The forest is important because it creates a lot of oxygen.

Core Mechanics: Plot/Storyline- The plot of the game will be that you are lost in the amazon rainforest. You are the person trying to destroy the rainforest. You have to get home. As you are wandering around the forest, you realize that what you are doing is wrong. So you return home and abandon the idea of chopping down the trees.

Goal- The goal of the game is to get home the fastest before all the other characters.

Rules- The rules of the game will be that you cannot roll the dice twice in one turn. As you go along you would have to answer questions on a card. If you get it correct then you go on and if you get it wrong you move back the same amount of spaces.

Moving parts- The moving parts are going to be the game pieces and you would need the dice to see how many spaces you move.

Territory- The background of the game would be green and you can draw trees and animals.

3. A Serious Game -- Free Choice that follows the design brief. A serious game that follows the design breif is the game Ayiti. It taught us the importance and the things happening in Haiti. The goal of the game was to make your family survive the seasons. It was challenging but there was a way to win. I could base my game on the Ayiti game. People would have to make a family living in the amazon rainforest survive (animal or human). They would have to make the families live through seasons and players would learn how important the rainforest is. Many creatures and species live there. If you only chop down one tree you can destory a lot of animals and creatures.

Plot/Storyline- The plot of the game is that your family is living in the rainforest. People are destorying your home and you have to learn how to survive there.

Goal- Make it through 4 years 16 seasons without anyone in your family dying or getting lost.

Rules- Instead of earning money to survive, you would have to find food and a place to live because your homes are constantly getting chopped down.

Moving parts- The moving parts will be when you click something. It would also be the arrow keys so you can move around and find new things.

Territory- The background of the game is in the rainforest. There will be a river running through it and there would be many animals.