Gaming and me: Putting my experiences to use in game design

I love to play games...always have...now that I can play them on the computer...wow!

Then I discovered the possibility of designing my own gaming experience for my students, and was enthralled with the idea.

So, I read...and read....and read.....and read.....and read some more.....  and that reading led to the previous 3 blog postings. Then I started reflecting upon my own gaming experience to see what I could apply.

While I know that I have not tried every game available, I feel as though I have tried quite a few of the various types. I have tried enough different games to now know what I like and want and, more importantly, what I do not want in a game. My hope is to put my own personal research to good use when I design game-based learning for my own students.

Text-based games (1970s-80s)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mystery_Mansion_%28video_game%29

Hopefully, I am not the only one who remembers text-based adventure games from the 1970s and 1980s.  No graphics. No Java. DOS. Pure DOS. These single player text-based adventure games took me into a pyramid, an island,  or into mansion where I had to read the screen, imagine what I was reading, then type in commands, keeping track of where I had been so I would know where I was now going. No pause, the game started over every time I turned on the computer.  Being an avid reader, I was used to "seeing" what I read, but soon realized what I "saw" was not necessarily what the designer wanted me to "see." After passing through one room, I was hopelessly turned around, unable to differentiate north from south or up from down.

Lesson Learned: Text-based games are fine in small doses and probably increase memory skills, but they require every player to speak and see alike, share the same language per se, and players can easily become frustrated when their memory is overloaded. Yes, I even tried drawing and diagramming the game as I played to keep track - while I thought this was a brilliant idea, it did not help. 

Arcade Games (1980s)

http://www.webpacman.com/

Ah...PacMan.....

These were a little more fun, but challenging in a different way.  Whereas text-based adventure games required strong memory and spacial skills, now I had to have speed...and keep an eye out on the ghosties ... early multitasking!

Very frustrating for me.  I couldn't figure out how to make the Pacman move, and by the time I did, he was eaten, often by two ghosts at once.

Eventually I won my first round, but soon lost interest after that and have only sporadically revisited sense.

Lesson Learned: Speed and agility do not come easily to all players.  While games should not be easy, the challenge in them should be balanced with success.  

 

 Spacebar Invaders (1990s)

http://www.freetypinggame.net/play9.asp

While I have only played this game enough to teach myself how to type, I have used this game  primarily in the office to train volunteers to improve their typing skills  When AFDC turned into TAN-F, I was working in a community college. Part of my duties included serving as the liaison to the local Department of Social Services. Several social service clients were assigned to me, and I provided counseling along with entry level job training skills (how to use a time card, filing, telephone etiquette, stapling...and typing).

One client had never been exposed to a computer before, so I used this game to teach her how to click, drag.....and type.  She loved it! Having dropped out of school in 7th grade, her educational background was sparse, and this game opened up a new world to her! It was self-paced, complete with quizzes and speed tests, and she could review the previous work whenever she liked. 

A game could actually teach!  Who knew?

Lesson learned: Games need to be fun and engaging, and can teach a variety of skills, if well-designed. They can also increase the player's self-esteem.

My gaming took a break at this point due to doctoral studies. But then, I found...

Games on CDs (1990s)

Somehow I discovered games on CDs. I purchased Mahjongg, crossword puzzles, adventure games....a variety of CDs to entertain. I even purchased Sims games for my daughters who had inherited my love of playing.

Then I found Flight Simulator.

So did my husband.

http://www.myabandonware.com/game/microsoft-flight-simulator-v5-0-1zs

We were hooked.

We bought a joystick to plug into our desktop, and off we went!  We flew  a variety of planes, from a Sopwith Camel to a jet liner, learning how to take off and land.  Well, taking off at least. Landing was a skill I did not quite master, but my husband was great with it. Complete with photorealistic instrument panels and sound, these were great fun!

Then we discovered a combat flight simulator where I learned I could actually take out the enemy with a variety of different weapons and still land the plane, unharmed! 

Eventually we upgraded the computer and these games were no longer compatible. Sometimes I miss those games....

Lesson learned: Traditional games such as Mahjong and Solitaire were easy to use as I had already mastered those before they became computer-based. The simulator programs were different: The more realistic the game the better! Sounds, graphics, movement all had a place, and I finally felt as though I possessed eye-hand coordination!

 So far, though, all of these were single player games...

Second Life (2005ish)

http://secondlife.com/

This experience did not go well, no matter how hard I tried.

I created my avatar, Autumn, and was not pleased with the plethora of scantily clad options for apparel.  I learned how to make her fly, but sitting down where I wanted her to sit was difficult.

One problem was my laptop - it just could not handle the graphics, the speed, anything about this game. I saw that several well-known universities (Academic Organizations in Second Life) held classes meeting in Second Life, and others were opening virtual libraries and career development centers in SL.  I just knew this was the next step to take in combining education and gaming.... but learning my way around SL was cumbersome, and buying an island at that time to house my classes was out of my price range. I also quickly grew tired of other members trying to "hook up" with me - not the professional platform I was seeking.  I continued to read articles about using SL in the classroom, hoping that some day....

Lesson learned: A game/virtual world needs to be easy to navigate using the technology that players currently possess.  They work best when intuitive and have guides to help newcomers adjust to the experience. Ease of use is extremely important when thinking about using a game or virtual world in a class, as you want people to spend time learning and interacting with one another, not be lost trying to find a location or figuring out how to participate. Professionalism is also important when designing an educational/serious game.

 

VirtualU (2005)

http://www.izzygames.com/virtual-u-t2648.htmltion

I was asked to teach a capstone course for a masters program in higher education that was crosslisted with a doctoral level capstone and was strongly encouraged to use a simulation called Virtual U. I downloaded it, played it, and was fascinated with how the game worked and how it could be used as a teaching tool.


In this single player simulation, a player creates an American university, becoming a senior leader. As a senior leader, each player is tasked with taking care of all daily operations on campus, including hiring faculty and staff, and dealing with student issues, maintenance, board members, and other constituents. I required students to create a 7 year plan with yearly and overall measurable objectives to help guide their decisions regarding students and teachers while setting budgets and dealing with daily crises. This plan had to be completed prior to the first playing session.

Students were to "play" weekly and could save their game allowing them to begin each week where they left off the previous week. They were to stop after completing their 7th year as a member of the senior leadership. At the end  of the semester they prepared a report and an oral presentation detailing their university plan, their ability to meet their objectives and still have a budget in the black, along with their experiences and the different decisions they made along with their rationale, and the result.

Students loved this simulation, stating they now had a better idea of how a decision made in one section of a university impacted the entire campus. I found out later that they wanted to play together, so several met together outside of class to run their own universities while chatting about them.

Now, this is learning! And...according to research using VirtualU,  using serious games in the classroom can lead to serious learning.

(NOTE: VirtualU is downloaded, not played in a browser, and students saved their game on a USB that they then could use with any computer. To download VirtualU  and give it a try, click HERE and scroll to the bottom of the page.)

Lessons Learned:   Single-player serious games hold great promise for learning, allowing players to experience a new situation in a safe environment, permitting players to see the interconnections within the virtual world. Providing specific guidelines is necessary, helping to set up the play as a serious assignment and providing a framework of expectations. Although networking with one another during play was only possible in a face-to-face manner, some students found that networking to be beneficial.

 

Facebook-based Games

I tried counting the number of games offered through Facebook and gave up counting at 2000. Many of these have morphed into apps for the smart phone or iPhone. More important than the number of games, however, is the number of daily players, shown in the graphic below:

AppStats; Metricsmonk

People play games. Period.

I have actually played a few of the above mentioned games (Candy Crush, Candy Crush Soda, Farm Heroes Saga, and Pet Rescue Saga) but have long since abandoned them due to boredom and, in some instances, frustration at being stuck at the same level for weeks at a time. I have continued to play Criminal Case, however, as it is somewhat thought-provoking as one solves crimes, it provides opportunities for leveling up faster, and it has a loose community...a very loose but responsive community. It also provides puzzles to solve as part of clues, and I find those to be stimulating.

A Facebook game not mentioned above is Castle Age, one I have stopped playing due to time, but I met some wonderful people through that game as we formed alliances and guilds, and I keep in touch with these people almost every day. We formed some strong friendships during this game, supporting each other through real life  (RL) events, including divorces, remarriages, job loss, breakups, even the death of various members.  Perfect strangers formed a very strong bond during that game, stronger in some instances than bonds we had with some face-to-face friends. One of the reasons several of us stopped playing was the difficulty in scheduling synchronous events - battles - in which all of us could participate, thereby increasing our individual ranks as well as the rank of our guild. Members were spread across time zones and countries, making scheduling difficult. Despite this I still remain close friends with several of the players today, even those from other countries.

Lesson learned:  People play games, and looking closely at the game design for Facebook's top 5 games provides important insight. Interestingly enough, many of these games do not require a community alliance, other than to send power boosts, etc., to all of one's friends who play the game. Players are encouraged, however, to add game friends to their Facebook friends, forming alliances of a sort. Facebook's limit on the number of friends (5000), however, might limit folks in playing some games.  Strategy is important, and each game has a specific strategy(ies) to improve gameplay. Networking within the community allows players to share such strategies.

MMORPGs

I have not played many MMORPGs.

When I first began thinking about designing my own educational games, I tried to get interested in World of Warcraft, but after downloading it onto my laptop, the laptop's speed slowed so much that I eventually had to delete it before ever playing. I have friends who love it and play it daily, but they have what they refer to as a dedicated "gaming" computer as opposed to my laptop. I have looked at other MMORPGs, but none of them really caught my attention, even after spending several hours reviewing a variety of lists (Best MMORPGs, Top Free MMO Games, The 10 Best MMORPGs on PC).

Somehow I found Elvenar within the first month of its launch in April 2015.

Elvenar is mythical fantasy world in which players build cities, choosing to play as either elves or humans. The goal is to rule the town in such a way as to help your people prosper. Elves command powerful magic while humans connect strongly to medieval weaponry. Within the last two weeks fellowships have been added, putting an interesting spin on play as folks join a fellowship, then the fellowship sets up rules, and players decide whether to abide by the rules or leave to find a new fellowship.

Lessons learned: The first choice is whether to join a game that requires a download or can be played online.  While I found a few games that sounded intriguing (Firefly, for one), the fact that it was not yet available as Windows-based and required a download of another platform called Steam, made me pause.  Community building is another factor.  Facebook's most popular game, Candy Crush, has no real community, yet many MMORPGs encourage community building by offering fellowships, guilds, or other opportunities to form alliances.

 

Now what.....

As I now reflect upon my own experiences, what rings true for me in educational game design?  The following questions surfaced for me:

Just how important is the narrative?  This depends on the game and its goal.  Candy Crush has no narrative, just strategy. VirtualU is primarily narrative, driven by strategy. MMORPGs tend to use narrative to guide players through various tasks or adventures. Educational or serious games probably rely on narrative more than other games, so the narrative must guide the player while presenting the necessary content and/or instructions, setting the stage for the events. A balance between narrative and good graphics will be important as well, chunking text into small enough amounts that players will not find it distracting and will actually read the text.

How do games encourage engagement and return visits? Part of this is the balance of challenge with success. If a game is difficult to start, players will not return. Games should have few rules and not need much instruction to begin. When players feel they are progressing, they will want to continue to play. If they are bored or having trouble with a game, they will stop playing. Incentives are also a good way to encourage engagement and return visits. But...players have different motivators, so several types of incentives should be included. Points, leveling up, badges, and competition can motivate players, as well as community - feeling a part of a group. Instructors using serious games for education can, of course, motivate students by crafting assignments requiring game engagement, but well-designed games will draw the players back in due to interest, strategy,  narrative, or one of the motivators. My students playing VirtualU had to be required to play at first, but once they got into the game several of them "led" their universities beyond the mandatory 7 years just to see how well they did. Perhaps, finding a way to nudge students to play at the beginning is all we as educators need to do.


How does community building fit in with educational/serious games? I believe this depends upon the player - some players enjoy interacting with others during game play while others prefer a more solitary approach.  I stopped playing some games where the only way to progress was through specific gifts provided only by one's game friends, and I tend to enjoy a community. A game used for a class, however, already has a built in community - the students in the course - so capitalizing on that built-in community could perpetuate the development of the online network. Providing varying levels of community might better meet player needs. Some play could be solitary, and other could be community-based, but forming specific alliances or using IM chat or game wikis are all possibilities. Community could be a built-in requirement, strongly suggested and rewarded, or optional.

How important is a game's platform? My students are not gamers, so they need a game that does not require extensive downloads, memory, band width, or another computer.  Educational/serious games need to be housed on an easily accessible platform such as Windows or Mac OS.

How important are synchronous game events? Designing an educational/serious game where the game schedules synchronous meetings or events may not work well for various courses, particularly where students work odd schedules or are in different time zones. If the game absolutely must have synchronous events, then allow the players to work out that schedule among themselves, with the understanding of no penalty for those who cannot attend.

Those of you who game: what experiences do you see as necessary when designing an educational/serious game?