Class Title: Enter the GameLab (middle school program)
Description: This 2 hour class will explore game theory, design techniques and elements that make games one of the most powerfully engaging forces in history. The ideal student in this class works well with teams of peers, is willing to do research outside of class and is willing to take an expansive idea and make challenging decisions. In the 9-week course students will prepare presentations to be reported during the class sessions. Though this class is all about play come prepared to roll up your sleeves and become a game maker!
Syllabus:
Syllabus:
- Node 1 :: Game Theory
- Definintion, history & humanity
- Lessons in Gaming
- Games for Change
- Node 2 :: Mechanics, Dynamics, Aesthetics... oh my
- Analysis
- Create
- Implement
- Node 3 :: Design for Play
- Pitch
- Test, report & tweak
- Play & next steps
Game Design 2011-2012 in Asheville/Buncombe Schools
GameLab program document
In the school year 2011-2012, Brett A McCall with Sheepsknuckles (a game design consulting firm), will build a competitive video game with a team of High School students for High School students! The game will provide a landscape for students to explore and gain understanding around complicated physics problems, teamwork and communication while inspiring them through meaningful work and a greater purpose.
With an already working prototype the program will embrace the creativity, talent and passion of the students by engaging them in the multi-faced experience of producing a game from a simple concept into a playable reality.
We are aiming to tackle one major objective: to build a game that is entertaining while at the same time full of opportunities for education! Ideally it will become a sustainable platform on which schools can compete, collaborate and grow to understand the power of their minds and the minds of their peers.
Additionally, this program will teach students about the behind the scenes business of gaming necessary to get a game off the ground in today's marketplace.
Sheepsknuckles will be able to work with a maximum of 21 students over the course of this year. Already there are 4 students who are ready to dive in and start the extensive design process.
The long term vision for this project is to give students an opportunity to develop an understanding of the gaming business to such a degree that by the time they have graduated they are prepared to go deeper in their career immediately out of High School or pick a college that matches their interests much more directly.
Game Lab – where play IS the purpose!
Here is the simple concept:
The Asheville Game Lab is an educational environment where the students learn through play. Lectures, activities, research and lessons are all built on a gaming platform familiar to the techno-native citizens in our community. Curriculum will range from learning easy to access electronic games to discovering the origin and history of the ancient games to solving real life problems through game mechanics. The Game Lab will offer classes for an equally diverse demographic where the purpose of lab time is to discover what excites the students and delivering challenges that meet their individual aptitude and interests. This approach will allow the Lab to focus on the most Gifted students while also reaching the most challenged ADHD students (some of which we may discover are the same!).
The Game Lab is a movable studio that contains a dozen PCs that will be used for Game Theory, Game Design & Mechanics, Gamification and will crossover lessons in History, Reading, Math, Physics, Planning, and much more. The Game Lab will be purposed for during school time study for students who are looking to be challenged in their Math, Science, Comprehension and Creative education. These studies will be rigorous and intense for all participants, requiring a high-level of desire and attention to be applied. The GameLab is the first step in building the educational curriculum that will eventually become the GameSchool.
What would happen if we played games for a few billion hours a day across the world?
This is the whole premise behind the lab/school concept… if people put time into understanding game mechanics, if they understand how to influence change and behavior, then they will likely feel empowered to determine what change and what influence they want to see and take action accordingly.
Anyway, there are example after example of ways the game layer are making its way into our every day lives. Jesse Schell said it originally and I believe it is true.. right down to brushing our teeth.. eventually we will all be gamed.
Resources worth reviewing:
The Asheville Game Lab is an educational environment where the students learn through play. Lectures, activities, research and lessons are all built on a gaming platform familiar to the techno-native citizens in our community. Curriculum will range from learning easy to access electronic games to discovering the origin and history of the ancient games to solving real life problems through game mechanics. The Game Lab will offer classes for an equally diverse demographic where the purpose of lab time is to discover what excites the students and delivering challenges that meet their individual aptitude and interests. This approach will allow the Lab to focus on the most Gifted students while also reaching the most challenged ADHD students (some of which we may discover are the same!).
The Game Lab is a movable studio that contains a dozen PCs that will be used for Game Theory, Game Design & Mechanics, Gamification and will crossover lessons in History, Reading, Math, Physics, Planning, and much more. The Game Lab will be purposed for during school time study for students who are looking to be challenged in their Math, Science, Comprehension and Creative education. These studies will be rigorous and intense for all participants, requiring a high-level of desire and attention to be applied. The GameLab is the first step in building the educational curriculum that will eventually become the GameSchool.
What would happen if we played games for a few billion hours a day across the world?
This is the whole premise behind the lab/school concept… if people put time into understanding game mechanics, if they understand how to influence change and behavior, then they will likely feel empowered to determine what change and what influence they want to see and take action accordingly.
Anyway, there are example after example of ways the game layer are making its way into our every day lives. Jesse Schell said it originally and I believe it is true.. right down to brushing our teeth.. eventually we will all be gamed.
Resources worth reviewing:
Glitch'd
Currently, we are exploring the brilliant design from TinySpeck.com with their project known as Glitch. It is currently in Beta but the game has already leveraged some of the most common game dynamics to compel players to return on a schedule they mandate both through the game and through the Gods that rule the world of Glitch.
We are certainly inspired to aspire to be as quirky, geeky, brilliant and curator of such an addictive piece of virtual social experience as TinySpeck has accomplished with Glitch! More details http://tinyspeck.com/ and/or http://www.glitch.com/.
We are certainly inspired to aspire to be as quirky, geeky, brilliant and curator of such an addictive piece of virtual social experience as TinySpeck has accomplished with Glitch! More details http://tinyspeck.com/ and/or http://www.glitch.com/.
