Play to Learn: Playing Games to Learn how to Design Games Session M301 Sharon Boller Indianapolis, IN

About me…. Game-lover(!), learner, instructional designer, product owner, game designer, dog-lover and owner, Mom, wife, cyclist. Oh…and president, Bottom-Line Performance. Sharon Boller

Game 1 – Group Think Name: Group Think Game Goal: To produce a description of a game that BEST matches mine. Your team “wins” if your description closely aligns with mine. (Don’t cheat by looking ahead at the slides). How to play: 1.Partner up with BLUE dot people whose # matches your own. (Six to eight people is optimal for this game). 2.Each player starts with a blank sheet of paper and writes ONE word that describes what a game IS or IS NOT. 3.Pass your paper to the teammate to your left. That teammate can ADD a word or DELETE a word. 4.Pass your paper again and repeat until I stay stop.

How’d you do? An activity that has an explicit goal or challenge, rules that guide achievement of the goal, interactivity with either other players or the game environment (or both), and feedback mechanisms that give clear cues as to how well or poorly you are performing. It results in a quantifiable outcome (you win/you lose, you hit the target, etc). Usually generates an emotional reaction in players.

Game 2: Timeline Board Game 1.Partner up with GREEN dot whose # matches your own. 2.Play Tmeline for 10 minutes after I explain directions. We’ll evaluate afterward.

Summary – Timeline Evaluation 1.What was the game goal? Was it fun? 2.What was the core dynamic? Was it fun? 3.What were 1-3 mechanics (rules) that stood out? Did they help – or confuse you? 4.What game elements did you notice? 5.How did you know how you were doing? (What feedback did you get?)

Game 3: Spot It 1.Partner up with a RED dot whose # matches your own. 2.Play 2 rounds of Spot It after I explain directions. 3.We’ll evaluate at the end.

Evaluate Spot It 1.What was the game goal? Was it fun? 2.What was the core dynamic? Was it fun? 3.What were 1-3 mechanics (rules) that stood out? Did they help – or confuse you? 4.What game elements did you notice? 5.How did you know how you were doing? (What feedback did you get?)

Game 4: Password Blaster

Play/Evaluate Password Blaster 1.What was the game goal? Was it fun? 2.What was the learning goal? Did you learn? 3.Did you notice a core dynamic? Was it fun? 4.What were 1-3 mechanics (rules) that stood out? Did they help – or confuse you? 5.What game elements did you notice? 6.How did you know how you were doing? (What feedback did you get?)

Q. What could learning professionals be doing better? 1.Recognize the limitations of rapid authoring tools – and the LMS. Ask, “Will the world collapse if my game DOESN’T get tracked in the LMS? 2.Ask, what other tools can I use beyond rapid authoring tools? 3. Think cooperative instead of just competitive.

Q. What could learning professionals be doing better? 4.Go beyond points, badges, leaderboards (PBLs); recognize the power of aesthetics and theme; be more intentional about game elements you choose. 5.Decrease complexity. 6.Link scoring and rewards to job context to maximize learning connection and reward for knowledge/skill – not luck. Take time to do it right.

#4 – Go beyond PBLs.” PBLs are fun…for awhile. This Guru games does use them – but goes beyond them as well. Check out Game Design Guru to see what else we used.

#4 - Recognize power of aesthetics, themes – adds element of fun; sets context, sparks emotion.

#4 – Choose game elements with more intention. Time Cooperation Chance Strategy Levels How could you use these? Think about commercial games you play – and how they use these elements. How do you fit these same elements EFFECTIVELY into a learning game?

Ideas on how to use 5 game elements to enhance learning Time – to compress real-world time, to provide element of stress that mimics real-world, to manage duration of learning experience, to serve as a resource that must be managed (much like it must be managed in real-world. Cooperation – to foster collaboration and teamwork (assets in real-world, to increase and / or maintain learner engagement, to mimic real-world cooperation required in a job or process Strategy – to encourage problem-solving or use of judgment, to force people to manage limited resources (a frequent real-world constraint) Chance – to help “balance” a game so people don’t opt out if they fall too far behind; to mimic real-world “chance” events such as a person getting sick, someone quitting, a natural disaster, etc., to force people assess and manage risk. Levels – to help balance a game so that different experience levels can play; to allow people to learn via play by having an easy level precede harder levels, to increase complexity as players gain experience.

Thank you for letting me play and share with you! Sharon Boller President Bottom-Line Performance, (Twitter)

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