[game_edu] Playing A Game About Games - contribution to the IGDA Newsletter

[Martin Hagvall]

Hi Beth,

Here's a contribution to the newsletter (see below, and attached,
formatted). It's a bit longer than 500 words, but I hope it works.

Best,
Martin

(note: submitted yesterday; reposted without attachment)


PLAYING A GAME ABOUT GAMES
Turning game history studies into a sci-fi adventure


by
Martin Hagvall
mhagvall at lafilm.com


When the students step into a classroom for the first time since they  
enrolled in the program, they are clueless as to what is transpiring.  
In the midst of PC stations and game consoles, classic video arcades  
and monitors that cover the walls from top to bottom, sits the  
instructor on his chair, seemingly distracted by a loud game of Pong  
on the iPad. Soon they find a game board set up in the corner, with  
playing pieces next to it. A message is displayed on the monitors on  
the wall: "Prawn Invaders, find out why you are here." A set of  
documents lay on the tables as the only additional clue.

Herewith starts a journey of exploration for the students, a foray  
into video game history through an unfolding narrative. For the next  
two hours, no one provides directions as the students unravel—on  
their own—the mystery of the simulation that has been thrust upon  
them. For the next two weeks (36 class hours) everything that they do,  
in one way or another, will be part of one connected experience.

I have long felt that designing a course curriculum is, in some ways,  
much like designing a game. One builds a system in view of the  
ultimate goal (a certain user experience) using a set of components  
and mechanics put together in a certain manner and sequence, the  
dynamics of which can't be fully predicted until tested. In the case  
of History of Games, part of Global Game Studies, the first course in  
the Game Production associate degree program at the Los Angeles Film  
School, the curriculum is itself a game. As part of the simulation  
referred to as Prawn Invaders, the students research and present  
reports on a wide range of topics covering 50 years of video game  
history in an environment fostering both team work and competition. In  
an accelerated program format involving daily homework
assignments, they also study games in a broader context, through  
readings ranging from Huizinga and Caillois to e.g. Costikyan, Juul  
and Jenkins.

Taking the role of scientists from the home world of the Prawns that  
are featured in the film District 9 (who, as the students learn, are as
obsessed with human gaming as they are with cat food), student teams  
travel in time machines to different eras in recent human history to  
"collect data" about contemporary games and gaming from different  
perspectives (technological, game play, genres, culture etc.). When a  
team has completed a report based on its research, it will be tested  
on its contents, and if successful, will "level up" which unlocks new  
assignments (as the story goes, the report will now be published in  
academic publications).

A physical game board is used to track movements of time machines, as  
well as the "temporal locations" of different time periods that the  
time machines may settle in. Wooden cubes, glass beads and other  
components represent prestige, knowledge and technological upgrades to  
the Time Machines. The students use PC stations with Internet access  
and Gametap accounts, classic video arcades and game consoles  
(including Wii Virtual
Console) to conduct their research, with guidance from faculty. Teams  
handle their work flow and document management online (also when  
submitting their reports for review). When multiple teams have  
completed an assignment on the same topic, the team with the best  
report, or with the best display of game play proficiency—be it in  
e.g. Space Invaders, Castle Wolfenstein, Super Metroid, Myst or Diner  
Dash—receives an extra reward. Several simulation features reinforce  
the chosen narrative, including a back story that follows the  
storyline in the film (which the students are asked to watch before  
the class) and the character "the Prawn Master" (played by the  
instructor) supervising the "scientists," who consistently  
communicates about class activities in a manner consistent
with the game world.


Several critical decisions have had to be made when designing the
simulation, and many of the related questions continue to pose  
challenges to the work going forward. Some of these are:

    * The non-linear structure to the students' learning, and the  
freedom of choice that the simulation provides.  This has two  
implications: (1) the students will not necessarily study the materials
chronologically (although some semi-chronological order is promoted by  
the layout of the game board), and (2) different teams will study  
different topics, and teams may not necessarily cover all time periods  
with their research.  To solve any potential loopholes that could  
result from this, all students read, and are tested on, additional  
reading materials at the end of the simulation that cover all of the  
time periods.


    * Using an existing IP (District 9) under fair use vs. creating a  
new
universe. It has proven very valuable that the students are immersed
in a familiar universe with a back story that they can relate to from
the very beginning, so that they may more easily cope with all of the
other elements of uncertainty that the simulation provides.

    * Choosing the right mix of historical material. The selection of
topics (including games) and research categories is obviously highly
subjective and there is also some tension between representing each  
time period fairly and ensuring that the topics overall (throughout  
all time periods) represent a broad spectrum of areas (genres, game  
play, technologies, etc.).

    * Game goals versus class goals.  Given the role that the  
simulation plays in the course, it is obviously important that the  
goal the student teams pursue as "Prawn scientists" (which is to gain  
more Prestige points than the other teams) is aligned with the course  
objectives (which are to provide historical context and to foster an  
understanding of how and why games have evolved into what we play  
today). While such an alignment exists (a team can't win the  
simulation without being successful in their research endeavors), it  
is not a perfect one. For instance, to create balance between  
different game resources and meaningful strategic options, the  
simulation allows teams to acquire Prestige through a certain
combination of resources, or through the accumulation of technological  
"upgrades," which are only indirectly related to research results.


    * Scalability.  In its original form, the simulation was not built  
for
use on a large scale. As the number of students in each class
increases, the simulation has had to adapt. It can now accomodate
different lab groups, although beyond a certain class size, multiple
simulations will need to be run in parallel.



The response thus far (from three different student cohorts) has been  
overwhelmingly positive. While it is too early to draw any firm
conclusions, it appears as if at least one of the key objectives has
clearly been met: to provide the students with an exploratory learning  
environment in which they are in control, as a means to foster student  
creativity (which the game production program emphasizes) from the  
very beginning. Whether the students have learned more or less about  
game history than they would in a more traditional learning  
environment is hard to say.

But playing a game to learn about games seems to be a logical thing to  
do.



Martin Hagvall, MBA, has designed and developed games and simulations  
for 15 years that have been used on five continents by the government,  
nonprofit and for-profit sectors. A former entrepreneur, business  
executive and delegate to the U.N., he is the Course Director at the  
Los Angeles Film School for Global Game Studies and Analog Game  
Theory, and he has also taught game design, negotiations and business  
leadership at universities in Southern California. One of his greatest  
passions at present is the new generation of board and card games that  
are rapidly expanding into the digital realm and which he predicts  
could precipitate a "smart casual revolution" in game design.
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