Playing games can add joy to life, relieve stress, supercharge learning, and connect you to others and the world around you. But what could be more exciting than playing games? It's making one. In this activity, we are going to the kick start the creative brain cells of our children to make games.
Jump to Instructions
Time Needed:
1 hour
Materials Required:
Cardboard
Colour Pencils
Paint
Scissors
Cutter
Plastic bottles
Marbles
Beads
Any other everyday items that are available at the Prayogshala
Concept(s) Taught:
Game Mechanics
Skill(s) Focussed:
Critical Thinking | Creativity
Aligned Profession(s):
Game Designer | Instructional Designer
Instructions:
Step 0:
Introduce the teams to the basic aspects of designing a game.
Environment/Setting:
Every game is staged in an environment/setting. Based on the materials available in the Prayogshala, the game designers can lay out the basic plan for their game's setting.
Objectives and Goals:
Every game should have an objective/goal. The game would be most effective if the game designer begins by deciding the objective of the game that they would like to design.
Challenge:
Once the objective of the game is decided, the game designer can think more of the challenges that they would like to incorporate in the game.
Achievement/Awards:
While playing games seems like a reward in itself, the happiness multiplies when the player can accomplish something during the course of the game. The game designer can decide how they would keep the players engaged with achievements or awards.
Single Player/Multiplayer:
The game designer can decide if the game is a single player game or a multiplayer game. The rules of the game would get defined accordingly.
Rules:
Rules make the game more challenging and interesting to play. The game designer can frame interesting rules for the game. The timing of the game can also be part of the rules.
Step 1:
Once the game designers have a basic understanding of the mechanics of the game that they would like to design, they can start with prototyping their game.
Step 2:
Once the prototype of the game is done, the game designers can play within their teams and make modifications to the mechanics of their games as they see fit.
Step 3:
It's time for the game exhibition. Once the teams have completed their games, each team has to exhibit their game to the entire group. Members from other teams can be invited as guest players to play the game.
Special Instructions for Teachers:
View samples of similar games:
Take some time prior to the session to view samples of games made by children. This will ensure that you are equipped to nudge children in the right direction if they are unsure about how to proceed. The below video contains some examples using simple materials:
Make stories
Encourage the students to see their games as stories that they are crafting. Seeing the games as stories helps with the thinking process and also makes it more exciting for the players to play the game.
Iterate relentlessly
Encourage the students to iterate their games relentlessly until they feel satisfied. Relentless iteration proves to be the core of successful prototyping.
Usage of resources
Encourage the students to focus more on the objective and goals of the game than the materials used to make it more interesting. You can set an expectation that they can design a unique and brilliant game using just a single piece of cardboard.
Have fun making and share the works of your students with the hashtag #projectprayogshala to get featured!
#prayogskill #makeagame #criticalthinking #creativity #gamemechanics