[game_edu] Game Suggestions

[Ian Schreiber]

Depends entirely on your goals. I mean, if it's just "play a game to get a feel for game design" then really ANY game will do, because all games have a design, right? If there's a specific mechanic you want to explore, you can narrow it down that way.


If you want the students to play "good" games to get a feel for how the mechanics create joy in the player, then there is no shortage of outstanding board games, card games, video games, etc. - the list would be a mile long. (And even then, it's sometimes worth playing "bad" games too, so students can try to conceptualize WHY the game isn't fun - leads into some great "okay, how would you make it better?" exercises.) Really there are so many choices here, you can't go too wrong. One possibility: ask the students.


If you want to play games that are "important" or "influential" so that they have a sense of game history (sort of a "game appreciation" class) then I'd give you a very different list...

- Ian



________________________________
From: "coachpayne at aol.com" <coachpayne at aol.com>
To: game_edu at igda.org
Sent: Tuesday, October 18, 2011 7:51 AM
Subject: [game_edu] Game Suggestions


Thanks for the input on game design programs and environments.  My students all have laptops, heavy on the MacBook side, and most of these suggestions were playable on both. 

Next question:  if you could have a group of high school students play a game to get a feel for game design, what would it (they) be?  I'd like to know which games, digital and non-digital,would be useful to play, maybe prior to the first real meeting after signup.  Preferably, these would be accessible online, and free is better.  I want the students to figure out "fun" for themselves prior to discussing the idea.  Games I've used include the classic tic-tac-toe and rock-scissors-paper, as well as checkers and chess, Risk, and the ball game 4-square for non-digital, Angry Birds (of course) for smartphones and tablets, and Sim City and others for digital.  I might also have them play some arcade games such as Space Invaders and Asteroids. Relatively non-violent games would be preferred, given an audience of sophomore/junior private school kids, with a girls school hosting this mini-term course.  I'd really like to develop a large range of games.
  I've got lots of resources, mainly at my "old" school, (http://dpsgaming.wikispaces.com/Books+and+Other+Resources, but your current suggestions would be welcome. I'd like to create some sort of list this week, if possible.

Thanks.

Charlie Payne, M.Ed.
Teacher of Physics
St. Catherine's School
Richmond, VA
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