a primer on game-based learning
TRANSCRIPT
A primer on game-based learning
iDesignX 2017
Me Gerard Friel
eLearning Instructional Designer
& Developer at PageGroup
15 Years L&D
7 Years in Australia
Created mix of physical and digital games
Serious Games Design student at USC
You 1. eLearning developers?
2. How many use advanced actions,
triggers and events?
Show you how to map game
development to existing L&D structures
A primer on
game-based
learning
1. What is game-based learning?
2. Why take a game-based learning
approach?
3. Practical tips for developing a game
x 3 skill coinsgerardfr ie l .com
What is game-based learning?
What is
game-based
learning?
Gamification
Serious games
Game-based learning
Edutainment
Learning Games
Playful learning
Gamified learning
Gamification
Serious games
Game-based learning
Edutainment
Learning Games
Playful learning
Gamified learning
What is
game-based
learning?
1. Structural Gamification
2. Content Gamification
3. Game-based assessments
4. Games
What is
game-based
learning?
“leveraging game elements to propel
learners through content without
altering the content itself”
Karl Kapp
Structural Gamification
Technology driven
1. Structural Gamification
2. Content Gamification
3. Game-based assessments
4. Games
What is
game-based
learning?
Content gamification is the use of game
elements within the course itself such as
progress indicators, and the use of
scenarios and challenges
Content Gamification
Design driven
1. Structural Gamification
2. Content Gamification
3. Game-based assessments
4. Games
What is
game-based
learning?
These are common to all major eLearning
authoring tools and provide quiz functionality
wrapped up in a game format to assess
knowledge
Can be based on well known TV shows or
sporting activities
Game-based assessments
1. Structural Gamification
2. Content Gamification
3. Game-based assessments
4. Games Quiz driven
What is
game-based
learning?
Fully featured games where the player has
to achieve a goal within a set of rules
Numerous obstacles have to be overcome
on the way to achieving the goal
Games
1. Structural Gamification
2. Content Gamification
3. Game-based assessments
4. Games Experience driven
What is
game-based
learning?
1. Structural Gamification Low
2. Content Gamification Medium
3. Game-based assessments Low
4. Games High
Implementation difficulty
What is
game-based
learning?
1. FPS – First Person Shooter
2. RPG – Role Playing Game
3. MMO – Massively Multiplayer Online
4. SIM – Simulation
5. PLA – Platformer
Types of digital games
vsnarrative gameplay
What is
game-based
learning?
1. Various types of games
2. Some that really don’t interest you
3. Build your game literacy
4. Call upon mechanics in your designs
Play games
Skill Coin #1
Why take a game-based learning approach?
Why take a
game-based
learning
approach?
Engagement
Motivation
1. Engagement
2. Motivation
3. Lower barriers
Why take a
game-based
learning
approach?
Immediate feedback
Know you’re on the right track
Correct errors
High degree of problem solving
Smart phones
Flow
Engagement
1. Engagement
2. Motivation
3. Lower barriers
Why take a
game-based
learning
approach?
Flow
1. Engagement
2. Motivation
3. Lower barriers
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Why take a
game-based
learning
approach?
Autonomy
Avatar
Choice
Freedom to fail
Mastery
View progress / win state
Relatedness
Sense of purpose
Share experience with others
Motivation
1. Engagement
2. Motivation
3. Lower barriers
Why take a
game-based
learning
approach?
Extrinsic
Rewards / prizes
Avoiding punishment
Intrinsic
Enjoyment of the task
Help or relate to others
Motivation
1. Engagement
2. Motivation
3. Lower barriers
Why take a
game-based
learning
approach?
Cost
Dramatically reduced
Many game engines are now free to use
Skills
Reduction of skill gap between L&D and game development
Organisational culture
Requirement for greater degree of engagement, behaviour
change and completion rates
Lower Barriers
1. Engagement
2. Motivation
3. Lower barriers
Why take a
game-based
learning
approach?
Game Engines
1. Engagement
2. Motivation
3. Lower barriers
Name Difficulty level Features
TWINE Low Narrative, text only
Scratch Low Web-based
Brick-like
programming GUI
Stencyl Low/Medium Web-based
Brick-like
programming GUI
GameMaker Medium 2D
GameSalad Medium 2D, Mac
Construct Medium 2D
Unity High 2D, 3D, VR
Unreal High 3D, VR
Practical tips for developing a game
Practical
tips for
developing a
game
Set up your team
Producer
Game Designer
Engineering Art
Instructional Designer
L&D Manager
eLearningDeveloper
Marketing/Design Team
Practical
tips for
developing a
game
Set up your process
Waterfall vs AGILE
Waterfall or ‘top down’ development
Practical
tips for
developing a
game
Set up your process
Waterfall vs AGILE
Iterative or looping development
Practical
tips for
developing a
game
1. Performance Problem
2. Learning Objectives
3. Concept Document: 1 pager
4. Iterative Design: Paper prototypes & playtest
5. Design Document: Art and engineering tasks
6. Iterative Development: Digital prototypes & playtest
7. Output: Deliver the game
7 Step Process
Practical
tips for
developing a
game
1. Performance Problem
2. Learning Objectives (guiding light)
3. Concept Document: 1 pager
4. Iterative Design: Paper prototypes & playtest
5. Design Document: Art and engineering tasks
6. Iterative Development: Digital prototypes & playtest
7. Output: Deliver the game
7 Step Process
Skill Coin #2
Practical
tips for
developing a
game
1. Don’t let game mechanics overtake the learning outcome
2. Easy to lose focus/sight of these in development
3. Have these clear upfront before design and development
4. Make sure all decisions align with these objectives
5. Keep objectives simple and small in number
Learning Objectives
1. Performance Problem
2. Learning Objectives
3. Concept Document: 1 pager
4. Iterative Design: Paper prototypes & playtest
5. Design Document: Art and engineering tasks
6. Iterative Development: Digital prototypes & playtest
7. Output: Deliver the game
Practical
tips for
developing a
game
“Documents have two purposes: memory
and communication”
Jesse Schell
Concept Document: 1 pager
high-level / overview of whole game
explain core mechanics
can include sketches
Documentation
1. Performance Problem
2. Learning Objectives
3. Concept Document: 1 pager
4. Iterative Design: Paper prototypes & playtest
5. Design Document: Art and engineering tasks
6. Iterative Development: Digital prototypes & playtest
7. Output: Deliver the game
Practical
tips for
developing a
game
1. Performance Problem
2. Learning Objectives
3. Concept Document: 1 pager
4. Iterative Design: Paper prototypes & playtest
5. Design Document: Art and engineering tasks
6. Iterative Development: Digital prototypes & playtest
7. Output: Deliver the game
Playtesting
Skill Coin #3
Practical
tips for
developing a
game
Paper PrototypingOver half of commercial game developers
still prefer paper-and-pencil prototyping tools
1. Performance Problem
2. Learning Objectives
3. Concept Document: 1 pager
4. Iterative Design: Paper prototypes & playtest
5. Design Document: Art and engineering tasks
6. Iterative Development: Digital prototypes & playtest
7. Output: Deliver the gameGame Developer Magazine 2009
Practical
tips for
developing a
game
1. The building of quick, rough, playable sections
of your game for feedback purposes
2. Used to identify flaws in gameplay or level
design early
3. Can be paper-based and/or digital
4. Who is involved?
Development team
Organisational representatives & end users
Blind testing
What is Playtesting?
1. Performance Problem
2. Learning Objectives
3. Concept Document: 1 pager
4. Iterative Design: Paper prototypes & playtest
5. Design Document: Art and engineering tasks
6. Iterative Development: Digital prototypes & playtest
7. Output: Deliver the game
Practical
tips for
developing a
game
1. Saves time and money
2. Quick and easy to make
3. Test ideas rapidly
4. Refinement of gameplay
5. Get early involvement and buy-in with stakeholders
6. Reduce likelihood of having to throw weeks of costly coding and artwork away later in the project
Why is Playtesting useful?
1. Performance Problem
2. Learning Objectives
3. Concept Document: 1 pager
4. Iterative Design: Paper prototypes & playtest
5. Design Document: Art and engineering tasks
6. Iterative Development: Digital prototypes & playtest
7. Output: Deliver the game
Practical
tips for
developing a
game
Sydney race
Epic (game) design fail!
1. Performance Problem
2. Learning Objectives
3. Concept Document: 1 pager
4. Iterative Design: Paper prototypes & playtest
5. Design Document: Art and engineering tasks
6. Iterative Development: Digital prototypes & playtest
7. Output: Deliver the game
Practical
tips for
developing a
game
No set template, each project will have different requirements but can include items such as:
Lists (everything that needs to be done to complete the game with estimates of time)
Programming tasks (levels, mechanics, Interface)
Artist tasks (images/animations)
Feature list (prioritise / drop items during development)
Story, characters, worlds, strategy
AGILE warning: “Working software over comprehensive documentation”
Documentation – Design doc
1. Performance Problem
2. Learning Objectives
3. Concept Document: 1 pager
4. Iterative Design: Paper prototypes & playtest
5. Design Document: Art and engineering tasks
6. Iterative Development: Digital prototypes & playtest
7. Output: Deliver the game
Practical
tips for
developing a
game
Working version of part of a game
Users can play them
Include interface
Used for development testing & refinement
Determine how playable the game is
Can reuse the code in actual game
Digital playtesting
1. Performance Problem
2. Learning Objectives
3. Concept Document: 1 pager
4. Iterative Design: Paper prototypes & playtest
5. Design Document: Art and engineering tasks
6. Iterative Development: Digital prototypes & playtest
7. Output: Deliver the game
Practical
tips for
developing a
game
1. Lockdown on features
2. QA and bug reporting
3. Refine artwork, animations & audio
4. Alpha
5. Beta
6. Gold
7. Release
7 Step Process
1. Performance Problem
2. Learning Objectives
3. Concept Document: 1 pager
4. Iterative Design: Paper prototypes & playtest
5. Design Document: Art and engineering tasks
6. Iterative Development: Digital prototypes & playtest
7. Output: Deliver the game
Practical tips for developing a game
WHS Platformer Example
Practical
tips for
developing a
game
1. Workplace Health & Safety (WHS)
2. Workplace injuries are increasing
3. New starters are not wearing safety
equipment on site
4. Fire evacuation procedures are not
followed
5. Fire evacuation roll calls are at 70%
Performance Problem
1. Performance Problem
2. Learning Objectives
3. Concept Document: 1 pager
4. Iterative Design: Paper prototypes & playtest
5. Design Document: Art and engineering tasks
6. Iterative Development: Digital prototypes & playtest
7. Output: Deliver the game
Practical
tips for
developing a
game
1. Identify the safety equipment required for
working on site
2. Follow the evacuation procedure in the
event of a fire
Learning Objectives
1. Performance Problem
2. Learning Objectives
3. Concept Document: 1 pager
4. Iterative Design: Paper prototypes & playtest
5. Design Document: Art and engineering tasks
6. Iterative Development: Digital prototypes & playtest
7. Output: Deliver the game
Practical
tips for
developing a
game
Concept Brainstorming
1. Performance Problem
2. Learning Objectives
3. Concept Document: 1 pager
4. Iterative Design: Paper prototypes & playtest
5. Design Document: Art and engineering tasks
6. Iterative Development: Digital prototypes & playtest
7. Output: Deliver the game
Practical
tips for
developing a
game
Concept Document: 1 pager
1. Performance Problem
2. Learning Objectives
3. Concept Document: 1 pager
4. Iterative Design: Paper prototypes & playtest
5. Design Document: Art and engineering tasks
6. Iterative Development: Digital prototypes & playtest
7. Output: Deliver the game
Practical
tips for
developing a
game
Iterative Design
1. Performance Problem
2. Learning Objectives
3. Concept Document: 1 pager
4. Iterative Design: Paper prototypes & playtest
5. Design Document: Art and engineering tasks
6. Iterative Development: Digital prototypes & playtest
7. Output: Deliver the game
Level Game
objectives
Learning
objectives
Flow indexSkills &
Challenge
level
1 Navigation 1 - low
2 Avoid/eliminate
hazards
2 - low-
medium
3 Identify safety
equipment
3 - medium
4 Follow fire
evacuation
procedure
4 - high
Practical
tips for
developing a
game
Iterative Design: Paper Prototyping
1. Performance Problem
2. Learning Objectives
3. Concept Document: 1 pager
4. Iterative Design: Paper prototypes & playtest
5. Design Document: Art and engineering tasks
6. Iterative Development: Digital prototypes & playtest
7. Output: Deliver the game
Practical
tips for
developing a
game
Documentation – Design doc
1. Performance Problem
2. Learning Objectives
3. Concept Document: 1 pager
4. Iterative Design: Paper prototypes & playtest
5. Design Document: Art and engineering tasks
6. Iterative Development: Digital prototypes & playtest
7. Output: Deliver the game
“Working software over comprehensive documentation”
Online project management tools rather than a large word document
Practical
tips for
developing a
game
1. Testing: Basic movement (left, right, and jump)
2. Playtest feedback: Player jumped too high
Iterative Development
1. Performance Problem
2. Learning Objectives
3. Concept Document: 1 pager
4. Iterative Design: Paper prototypes & playtest
5. Design Document: Art and engineering tasks
6. Iterative Development: Digital prototypes & playtest
7. Output: Deliver the game
Practical
tips for
developing a
game
1. Testing: Access next level
2. Pick up access card, Use card on reader, only
open lift if card is used on the reader
3. Enter lift to next level
4. Feedback: Player didn’t know what to do.
Instructions needed to play.
Iterative Development
1. Performance Problem
2. Learning Objectives
3. Concept Document: 1 pager
4. Iterative Design: Paper prototypes & playtest
5. Design Document: Art and engineering tasks
6. Iterative Development: Digital prototypes & playtest
7. Output: Deliver the game
Practical
tips for
developing a
game
Iterative Development: Program
1. Performance Problem
2. Learning Objectives
3. Concept Document: 1 pager
4. Iterative Design: Paper prototypes & playtest
5. Design Document: Art and engineering tasks
6. Iterative Development: Digital prototypes & playtest
7. Output: Deliver the game
Practical
tips for
developing a
game
1. Testing: Imported sourced graphics, player
animations, objects, and tilemap background
2. Feedback: Player confused when attempting to
access the lift with no pass
Iterative Development: Artwork
1. Performance Problem
2. Learning Objectives
3. Concept Document: 1 pager
4. Iterative Design: Paper prototypes & playtest
5. Design Document: Art and engineering tasks
6. Iterative Development: Digital prototypes & playtest
7. Output: Deliver the game
Practical
tips for
developing a
game
1. Testing: Health, score, start screens, game over
screen messages, level access UI
2. Feedback: Too busy when all menus open.
Need to simplify the interface
Iterative Development: UI
1. Performance Problem
2. Learning Objectives
3. Concept Document: 1 pager
4. Iterative Design: Paper prototypes & playtest
5. Design Document: Art and engineering tasks
6. Iterative Development: Digital prototypes & playtest
7. Output: Deliver the game
Practical
tips for
developing a
game
1. Alpha
2. Beta
Output – 4 completed levels
1. Performance Problem
2. Learning Objectives
3. Concept Document: 1 pager
4. Iterative Design: Paper prototypes & playtest
5. Design Document: Art and engineering tasks
6. Iterative Development: Digital prototypes & playtest
7. Output: Deliver the game
Summary
A primer on
game-based learning
A primer on
game-based
learning
1. What is game-based learning?
The use of full games to provide a learning outcome
2. Why take a game-based learning
approach?
Engagement, motivation, cheaper and easier than ever
3. Practical tips for developing a game
Use existing team structures and take an iterative
development approach
A primer on
game-based
learning1. Play games
2. Keep focus on learning goal
3. Playtest early and often
x 3 skill coins
www.ge ra rd f r i e l . com/ i des i gnx
iDesignX resources
Image
credits
Gameplay
https://www.flickr.com/photos/bagogames/25683700084
Mario
https://www.pexels.com/photo/cartoon-character-computer-
game-console-305576/